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Pottery Production, Distribution, and Consumption: The Contribution of the PhysicalSciencesAuthor(s): M. S. TiteReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Sep., 1999), pp. 181-233Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20177403 .Accessed: 15/01/2012 10:34

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Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1999

Pottery Production, Distribution, and

Consumption?The Contribution of the Physical Sciences

M. S. Tite1

The study of the life cycle of pottery, from the selection of raw materials and the pro duction stage through distribution and use to ultimate discard? can make a valuable contribution to archaeological research. The aim of the present paper is to provide a summary and critical assessment of the particular contribution of the physical sciences to the reconstruction and interpretation of this life cycle, in large part through the presentation of selected case studies. The topics covered include the re construction of the technology used in pottery production, through a combination of

microscopy, radiography, and chemical analysis; the investigation of the extent of craft specialization and the organization of pottery production; the reconstruction

of pottery distribution from its production center, using thin-section petrography and chemical analysis, and the interpretation of these data in terms of exchange and

trade; the reconstruction of the consumption stage or uses to which pottery was put, from the study of surface wear, organic residues, and performance characteristics; anda discussion of the reasons for the introduction of pottery and for the different technological choices made in pottery production. Throughout, the importance of considering the overall environmental, technological, economic, sociopolitical, cultural-ideological and historical context in which the pottery was produced, dis

tributed, and consumed is emphasized. The paper is concerned, almost-exclusively, with unglazed earthenware spanning prehistory through to circa 1500 AD.

KEY WORDS: pottery; production; distribution; consumption.

INTRODUCTION

This paper aims to review the contribution of the physical sciences to the

investigation of the life cycle for pottery produced in the past. This life cycle,

1 Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, 6 Keble Road, Oxford 0X1 3QJ, England.

181

l0r72-5369/99/09O0-O181$16.0O/0? 1999 Plenum Publishing Corporation

182 Tite

which is in many ways similar to the behavioral chain or flow model proposed by Schiffer (1976) and the cha?nes op?ratoires proposed by Leroi-Gourhan (1993), starts with the production stage, which includes the selection, procurement, and

processing of the raw materials together with the forming, surface treatment, and

firing of the pottery. It then continues through the distribution of the pottery, to

the consumption stage, which includes the use, maintenance, repair, reuse, and

ultimate discard of the pottery.

Having first defined the archaeological research question, the next stage in

the study of a group of pottery is the reconstruction or description of the relevant

aspects of production, distribution, or consumption. These data then need to be

interpreted in order to provide a better understanding of the behavior of the people who produced, distributed, or used the pottery and, thus, achieve the final goal of such studies, which is "not to describe microscale prehistoric activities, but to

understand microscale social processes" (Dobres and Hoffman, 1994, p. 213). At

this stage, the questions being asked include, typically, how pottery production or

distribution was organized and what the reasons were for technological innovation

and technological choice.

A starting point for such a study is the materials science paradigm (Kingery,

1996), which states that materials selection and processing lead to particular artifact

structures and chemical compositions. The latter, in turn, give rise to properties on

which depend the performance characteristics of the artefact in distribution and, more importantly, in use. Thus, in modern materials science, the raw materials and

processes are varied in order to achieve a structure and composition which result in

the required properties of the finished product. In a prehistoric context, it is rarely, if ever, appropriate to visualize a series of similarly systematic experiments being

employed in the development of a production technology. Instead, the materials

science paradigm is valuable in providing a basis for making inferences about the raw materials and processes employed in the production of the pottery from

the investigation of the structure and composition of the pottery itself. Similarly, inferences regarding use and, to a lesser extent, distribution can sometimes be made

from the measurement and assessment of the properties of the pottery. Further

information for the reconstruction of the life cycle of pottery is obtained from

the study of the surface traces (e.g., tool marks, wear, residues) resulting from

its production and use. These physical science data then need to be considered

together with information on the dimensions, shape, and surface decoration of the

pottery, the archaeological context in which the pottery was found, including its

relationship to other artifacts, and the abundance of particular pottery types. In order to maximize the quality of the data obtained from the collaboration

between physical scientists and archaeologists and to try to avoid the tensions that

have occurred in the past (Bishop and Lange, 1991), it is important that the physi cal scientist is actively involved in defining the archaeological research questions.

Also, whenever possible, the physical scientist should participate in the associated

The Contribution of the Physical Sciences 183

archaeological fieldwork and excavation and, in order to ensure that the pottery studied is representative of the available assemblage, should assist in the selection

of pottery for physical examination.

In the reconstruction of production, distribution, and consumption from the

scientific data, the results of fieldwork and excavation are important in helping to

define the context in which the pottery was used and ultimately discarded and in

providing information on the availability of raw materials and on the technology

employed in the production of the pottery. In interpreting the results of the physical examination, full account should be taken of cultural and environmental formation

processes which could have affected the pottery both in use and after discard.

Experimental replication of the production technology and the use inferred from the

physical examination are also important in testing the validity of these inferences.

Further assistance in the reconstruction of the production technology and use can

come from contemporary ancient writings on and illustrations of pottery production

plus other historical documentation and from present-day traditional potters. At the interpretation stage, archaeological input is again crucial in defining

the overall context in which the pottery was produced, distributed and consumed.

Thus, in attempting to answer the questions relating to interpretation, it is necessary to consider the full range of contextual aspects from the environmental and tech

nological constraints, through the subsistence and economic base and the social

and political organisation, to the religious and belief systems of the people under

consideration. That is, one needs to adopt the ceramic ecology approach, first pro

posed by Matson (1965) and subsequently modified by Arnold (1985, p. 12) and

Kolb (1989), which attempts to link pottery production to the environment in all

its aspects (i.e., physical; biological, including human biology; and sociocultural), the methodology for establishing links with sociocultural processes being, as yet, the least well developed

Finally, ceramic ethnoarchaeology, which involves the direct observation and

study by archaeologists of variability in ceramic production, distribution, and con

sumption and its relation to human behavior and organization among extant so

cieties, has a potentially very valuable contribution to make at the interpretation

stage (Longacre, 1991). In particular, ethnoarchaeological studies are valuable in

exposing us to other ways of thinking about the material world and reminding us

that pottery is used in creating and expressing social relationships and that rites,

myths, and taboos can be associated with its production, distribution, and con

sumption (Lindahl, 1995) In addition, the application of the methods of physical examination to ethnographic pottery, for which information on production, distri

bution, and consumption is already available, provides some check on the validity of the results obtained when these same methods are applied in an archaeological context (Gosselain and Livingstone-Smith, 1995).

The following sections of the paper are concerned with the role of the phys ical sciences, first, in the reconstruction of the technology of pottery production;

184 Tite

second, in the investigation of the extent of craft specialization and the organi zation of pottery production; third, in the reconstruction of pottery distribution

from its production center and the interpretation of these data in terms of exchange and trade; and fourth, in the reconstruction of the consumption stage or uses to

which pottery was put. Next, drawing on the results and ideas presented in the

previous four sections, the possible reasons for the introduction of pottery (i.e.,

technological innovation) and for the different technological choices made in pot

tery production are discussed. In each of these sections, the contribution of the

physical sciences are illustrated through the presentation of selected case studies.

Finally, future developments required in order to increase the effectiveness of the

contribution of the physical sciences to the study of potttery are suggested. With the exception of two case studies under Distribution, the present paper

is concerned exclusively with unglazed earthenwares made from low-refractory

clays (i.e., melting in the range 1100-1200?C), which typically fire to a red or

buff color in an oxidizing atmosphere, and spanning prehistory through to circa

1500 AD (i.e., the end of the medieval period in Europe). Glazed earthenwares

and high-refractory stonewares and porcelains are not considered.

PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY

The reconstruction of the production technology for pottery involves estab

lishing, first, what raw materials were used and how they were prepared and,

second, how the pottery vessels were formed, surface-treated, and fired. Whenever

feasible, the reconstruction should start with archaeological fieldwork and excava

tion to locate the workshops and kilns in which the pottery was produced. However, in many parts of the world, including the American Southwest (Sullivan, 1988), such primary evidence of pottery production is extremely rare, a feature that itself

may be telling us something about the intensity and organisation of production. The pottery, together with any appropriate production debris (e.g., raw clay

samples, kiln fragments) that may have survived, is subjected to a range of analyt ical, microscopy, and radiography techniques, as outlined below. Here, each stage

within the production sequence is considered separately. However, even in the case

of problem-specific research requiring the investigation of only one aspect of the

production technology, the interrelationship among all stages in the production sequence must be taken into account in any interpretation.

Raw Materials

In selecting a clay for pottery production, a primary requirement is to ensure

that the clay is sufficiently plastic for forming but that its drying shrinkage is not so

great as to result in cracking. This necessitates achieving a balance between the clay


mineral and nonplastic inclusion contents. Therefore, as-received clays frequently either were refined to remove excessive quantities of nonplastic inclusions or had

temper [e.g., sand, grog (i.e., crushed sherd), organic material (e.g., chaff), crushed

flint, shell, or limestone] added to them. Alternatively, clays from more than one

source were sometimes mixed together. As a result of their breakdown (i.e., dehydoxylation) during firing, it is not

normally possible to use either x-ray diffraction analysis or infrared spectroscopy to determine which clay minerals were originally present in the clay. However, the

use of a more refractory clay, rich in kaolinite, can be inferred from higher alumina

(>20% AI2O3) and lower alkali (<3% Na2? + K2O) contents, as determined by chemical analysis of the clay matrix of the pottery using, for example, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with attached analytical facilities. On the basis of

the lime content of the pottery, it is also possible to distinguish between the use

of noncalcareous clays and that of calcareous clays, which typically contain 15

25% well-dispersed lime, In the latter, crystalline calcium and calcium-aluminium

silicates are formed during firing, and as discussed under Technological Innovation

and Choice, this facilitates the firing process as well as conferring other beneficial

properties.

The nonplastic inclusions in the pottery can be identified and their particle size distribution estimated by thin-section petrography. Further, it is sometimes

possible, in the case of mineral or rock inclusions, to distinguish between in

clusions intrinsic to the clay and those added as temper on the basis of whether

they are rounded or angular respectively. Alternatively, the addition of temper can

sometimes be established as a result of the presence of inclusions with two distinct

particle size ranges, one associated with intrinsic inclusions and the other with

added temper (Rye, 1981, p. 52). However, neither criterion is necessarily valid, and it is frequently impossible to establish whether the inclusions are intrinsic or

added

Neither the plasticity nor the drying shrinkage of the original clay can be

estimated from measurements on the pottery. Such estimates (Bronitsky, 1986,

p. 212) are possible only when raw clay samples, which can be shown by chemical

analysis and petrography to have been used in the production of the pottery, are

available either from the pottery production site itself or from local clay sources.

Forming

A wide range of methods has been used in forming pottery vessels, sometimes

with different methods being used for different parts of a vessel or sometimes with two or more methods being used sequentially (Rye, 1981, p. 58, Rice, 1987, p. 124).

The primary techniques, which transform the shapeless clay into the basic shape, include modeling from a lump of clay by pinching, drawing, or beating using a

paddle and anvil; pressing or pounding into a mold; building up from coils or slabs;

186 Tite

and throwing on a wheel. The secondary techniques, which are subsequently used

to modify the basic shape, include scraping, trimming, and, again, beating using a

paddle and anvil. In considering the use of a wheel, it is important to distinguish the slowly rotating turntable or tournette, which is used to aid hand building and

finishing pottery, from the fast wheel, which is used for primary forming. Only in

the latter case is the speed of rotation sufficiently fast for the centripetal force to

push the clay against the hands of the potter, so that he/she can squeeze the clay and lift it to form the vessel.

With training and practice, it is often possible to infer the method used from

visual examination of surface markings, cracks and joins, pore and temper distri

bution and orientation, and variations in wall thickness. Further information on

the methods used can be obtained by investigating void and inclusion orientation

using radiography, thin-section petrology, or SEM examination of polished or frac

ture sections. Xeroradiography, which, through its method of recording the x-ray

image, enhances the edges of inclusions, pores, and any joins within the pottery,

provides a particularly powerful technique for investigating pottery forming meth

ods (Carr, 1990; Carr and Riddick, 1990; Middleton, 1997). Thus, a thrown vessel

can be identified because, in the act of throwing, elongate inclusions and pores in

the clay paste are drawn out in a spiral pattern up and around the walls of the ves

sel. In a xeroradiograph, this spiral pattern is typically revealed as a cross-hatched

pattern formed by the oblique elongate inclusions and pores on opposite sides of

the vessel. Conversely, coiling techniques tend to produce a horizontal alignment of pores. However, if the vessel wall is further shaped after coiling, then the pores

again tend to be aligned at various angles to the horizontal. Xeroradiography can

also reveal the joins between the coils and slabs from which the pottery was con

structed, together with information on the way in which, for example, handles,

spouts, and rims were attached.

Vandiver (1988), in a study of Neolithic storage jars, has used a combination

of visual examination and xeroradiography to show that jars from the Near East

were built up using overlapping irregular clay slabs, a method referred to as se

quential slab construction. In contrast, using mainly xeroradiography, she showed

that the jars from China were constructed from coils which were subsequently

compacted using the paddle and anvil technique. Leonard et al. (1993), in a study of Late Bronze Age stirrup jars from the eastern Mediterranean, have similarly used xeroradiography to identify two distinct techniques for producing the false

(i.e., nonfunctional) neck from which the strap handles spring. The first technique involved the production of a solid neck which was luted onto the almost totally closed globular body of the stirrup jar, whereas the second involved drawing up,

during throwing of the jar, a hollow neck which was thus integral to the globular

body. In both cases the true (i.e., pouring) spout, which was offset on the shoulder

of the jar, was luted onto the body rather than being inserted through it.

Courty and Roux (1995) have undertaken a systematic study of the surface

markings (e.g., grooves, rilling) and microfabrics resulting from the different


methods of forming. Their analysis of microstructure involved the examination

of cross sections perpendicular to the vessel wall using both a p?trographie mi

croscope with thin sections and a SEM with fracture sections. A particular aim of

the investigation was to establish criteria for distinguishing between wheel-thrown

pottery and coil-built pottery which was subsequently shaped on a turntable. They show that, because wheel throwing involves shear stresses and coil building in

volves tensile stresses, subtle differences in the subparallel alignment of clay do

mains are visible under a p?trographie microscope and SEM at magnifications up to x200 and x5000, respectively. Further, they show that, although shaping on a

turntable obliterates discontinuities between coils, it does not significantly modify the internal arrangement of the clay domains. Similarly, the distinctive surface

grooves associated with coil building are not necessarily obliterated entirely by

subsequent shaping on a turntable. Using these criteria, they argue that groups of

third-millennium BC pottery from Syria, Iran, and India, which were previously

thought to have been wheel thrown, could instead have been formed by coiling and then shaping on a turntable.

Surface Treatment

Pottery vessels were subjected to a range of surface treatments (Shepard, 1956, p. 65; Rice, 1987, p. 144). As discussed under Technological Innovation

and Choice, these treatments serve both as decoration and, in many instances, to reduce the permeability of the vessel to liquids. The surface treatments used include plastic decoration (i.e., impressed or incised patterns, applied decoration),

burnishing, application of a slip and/or mineral pigments, and posturing treatment

by sooting or with an organic coating. The examination of a polished section through the body and surface of a

pottery sherd using a SEM with attached analytical facilities provides a powerful

technique for studying many of these surface treatments. Burnishing and the ap

plication of a slip, both of which can produce a high-gloss surface finish, can be

readily distinguished from each other. Whereas burnishing results merely in some

compression and alignment of the clay particles at the surface, an applied slip is

associated with a clearly visible layer of a more finely textured and less porous

clay. Furthermore, by comparing the elemental compositions of the clay matrix

of the body with that of the slip, it is sometimes possible to establish whether or

not the slip clay was a refined version of the body clay (Tite et ai, 1982, p. 124;

Kingery, 1991). The mineral pigments applied to pottery can normally be distinguished from

the body on the basis of their textures and, when viewed in the backscattered electron SEM mode, their atomic number contrast. The actual minerals used can then usually be identified by elemental analysis. Thus, using this approach,

Middleton (1987) was able to show that, of a group of some 30 Iron Age pottery

188 Tite

sherds from 12 sites in southern England which had been classified as "haematite

coated ware," only some 40% were decorated by the application of powdered haematite to their surfaces. The surface treatment used for the remainder of the

pottery was either burnishing or applying a slip.

Similarly, Noll et ai (1975), using a combination of optical microscopy and

SEM, have established that the mineral pigments applied to pottery in the Near East

and eastern Mediterranean in antiquity include hematite for red; manganese oxide,

hercynite/magnetite produced by reduction firing, and carbon for black; kaolinite

and talc for white; and cobalt aluminate and Egyptian blue for blue. In their studies,

particular emphasis was given to tracing the development of the three-stage firing

cycle (oxidizing-reducing-oxidizing) required to produce a reduced iron-oxide

black pigment on an oxidised red or buff body, the cumulation of which was the

production of Greek Attic black- and red-figured wares (Tite et ai, 1982). The postfiring organic coatings applied to pottery can, as discussed under

Consumption in the context of organic residue analysis, be investigated using gas

chromatography and related techniques.

Firing Procedures

The two basic regimes were normally employed for firing unglazed earthen

ware. The first, in which the rise in temperature is extremely rapid and the time

at maximum temperature is very short, involves an open firing with no permanent structure, such as a bonfire. The second, in which the rise in temperature is much

slower and the time at maximum temperature is much longer, involves firing in a

closed structure, such as a kiln, sometimes with separation between the fuel and the

pottery. Extensive data on the actual temperatures measured during experimental and ethnoarchaeological studies of open firings and kiln firings have been brought

together by Gosselain (1992). These data show that, although partly dependent on whether fast- or slow

burning fuels (e.g., straw or dung, respectively) are used (Shepard, 1956, p. 77),

open firings typically reach the maximum temperature in 20-30 min and that the

maximum temperature is maintained for only a few minutes. The maximum tem

peratures reached span the range from 500 to 900?C, with a high proportion in

the range 600-800?C. The firing atmosphere in an open firing can change rapidly from reducing to oxidizing. However, the pottery is only very rarely fully oxidized

because it is in intimate contact with smoky and sooty fuel and there is insufficient

firing time for organic material within the clay to be burned out (Johnson et al.,

1988). Because of the very fast heating rates, normally only coarse-textured pot

tery can be open fired, otherwise steam resulting from loss of absorbed water (a

proportion survives drying) and chemically combined water cannot escape, and the

vessel will crack. The principal exception is very thin-walled fine-textured pottery, from which the escape of steam is again possible.


Conversely, kiln firings, as a result of the much greater thermal mass and the

separation of the fuel from the pottery, typically take an hour or more to reach

maximum temperature and this temperature is then maintained for some 30 min.

The maximum temperatures reached, in the updraught type kilns normally used

for firing earthenware, span the range from 600 to 1000?C, with a high proportion in the range 750-950?C The firing atmosphere in a kiln can be controlled, by a

combination of careful stoking and sealing the openings, to be either oxidizing or

reducing. This control, together with the longer firing times and separation of fuel

and pottery, means that organic material within the clay can be burned out and

fully oxidized pottery can be produced. Alternatively, if the kiln is sealed after the

maximum temperature has been reached, reduced pottery is produced. Because of

the much slower heating rates, both fine-textured and coarse-textured pottery can

be readily fired in a kiln.

Although the ranges for the maximum temperatures reached in open and kiln

firings overlap, the techniques used to estimate firing temperatures provide, instead, a measure of the overall heat input, which is a combination of firing temperature

plus firing time. When the difference in firing times for open and kiln firings is

taken into account (Norton and Hodgdon, 1931), then the range for the "kiln

equivalent" firing temperature (i.e., the firing temperature, which, if maintained

for about an hour, is equivalent in its effect on the mineralogy and microstructure of

the pottery to the actual firing temperature maintained for only a few minutes) for a high proportion of open firings is reduced to 550-750?C, compared to the 750

950?C range for kiln firings themselves. Consequently, "kiln-equivalent" firing

temperatures, when taken together with information on the firing atmosphere (as inferred from the color of the pottery) and on the texture of the pottery (i.e., coarse

or fine), can frequently be used to differentiate between open and kiln firings. Considerable effort has been devoted to determining the firing temperatures

employed in antiquity (Heimann and Franklin, 1979; Tite, 1995). The methods used

all involve establishing a relationship between the firing temperature and changes in either the mineralogy or the microstructure of the pottery. The mineralogical

changes can be followed using, for example, x-ray diffraction (Maggetti, 1982) and, for the iron-bearing phases, Mossbauer spectroscopy (Wagner et al., 1986). The

microstructural changes, which involve the progressive sintering and vitrification

of the clay matrix of the pottery, can be observed either directly, by examination

in section in a SEM (Maniatis and Tite, 1981), or indirectly, through changes in

those properties which are dependent on microstructure such as porosity, thermal

expansion or shrinkage (i.e., dilatometry), and hardness.

In addition to firing time, the changes in mineralogy and microstructure with

firing temperature also depend on the composition of the clay and on the firing

atmosphere. A direct estimate of firing temperature from such data is, therefore, not possible, and instead, one of two comparative approaches must be used. The

first approach involves retiring samples of the pottery to progressively higher tem

peratures and determining that temperature at which a change in mineralogy or

190 Tite

microstructure occurs. Alternatively, if a locally collected clay can be shown by chemical analysis and petrology to have been used in the production of the pottery, then a sequence of test pieces fired at a range of temperatures can be prepared and

compared with the pottery. The choice of the most appropriate refiring/firing atmo

sphere (i.e., oxidizing or reducing) is based, in the first instance, on the observed

color of the pottery under investigation. However, Mossbauer spectra, which pro vide information on the oxidation states of iron atoms in the pottery, can sometimes

help to distinguish between a firing which was oxidizing throughout and one with

a reducing stage followed by an oxidizing stage (Wagner et al, 1998). Typically, a refiring/firing time of about an hour is chosen so that "kiln-equivalent" firing

temperatures (as defined above) are estimated.

Depending on the method employed and the firing properties of the clay from which the pottery was made, the "kiln-equivalent" firing temperature range estimated for an individual sherd spans as much as 50-200?C (Maniatis and Tite,

1981). However, greater accuracy is rarely appropriate since large temperature differences occur within a single open firing or even a kiln firing (Mayes, 1961,

1962). As a result, the firing temperatures for different parts of a single vessel can

vary by as much as 150?C. A consequence of this temperature variation is that

firing temperature estimates based on data for a single sherd are of limited value

and can be positively misleading. Instead, the distribution of firing temperatures for a selection of sherds from the pottery assemblage under investigation must be

determined. Therefore, methods of estimating firing temperatures that are capable of achieving a rapid throughput of samples are particularly valuable.

Tite and Maniatis (1975) used the microstructural changes as observed in a SEM to estimate the firing temperatures for fine-textured pottery from Iraq

spanning the period from the Neolithic to the Neo-Assyrian period (ca. 6000

700 BC). They showed, first, that the pottery was all made from calcareous clays and, second, that the great majority was fired in the temperature range 850-1050?C.

A more precise estimate was not possible because the microstructure of calcareous

clays is stable over this temperature range due to the formation of crystalline silicate

phases. The principal exception to this 850-1050?C firing temperature range was

the Ubaid ware, produced during the fifth millennium BC, a significant proportion of which was fired at much higher temperatures up to about 1150?C.

Wagner et al. (1994, 1998) have used Mossbauer spectroscopy for a detailed

study of the firing procedures used in the production of Formative period pottery from Batan Grande in northern Peru dating from the period 800 BC to 400 AD.

In this project, Mossbauer measurements were made both on pottery itself and on fired clay samples from the kilns in which some of the pottery had been fired.

The resulting firing temperature measurements were then compared with direct

temperature measurements made during the experimental firing of both ancient

and replicate kilns. Overall, the results obtained suggest that the Formative period

pottery from Batan Grande was, typically, fired at temperatures in the range 700

800?C, with some firing temperatures being as low as 600?C and some as high as


900?C. Further, the form of the Mossbauer spectra suggest that the majority of the

pottery was first fired in a reducing atmosphere and was then, either intentionally or accidentally, oxidized in air.

SPECIALIZATION AND THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION

The investigation of the organization of pottery production and the extent of

the associated craft specialization is of considerable interest, in part because of the

implications for the production of surpluses for exchange and, ultimately, for the

rise of complex forms of social and political organization. Various typologies for the modes of pottery production have been proposed,

of which that by Peacock (1982) for Roman pottery is typical and has been much

cited. Peacock (1982) defined a sequence involving increasing specialization and

size of the work unit, which ranges from household production and household

industry, through individual workshops and nucleated workshops, to manufactory and factory. Costin (1991) subsequently proposed four general parameters which

can be used to characterize the modes of production defined by the different ty

pologies. In the case of pottery production, the first parameter, context, considers

whether the potter worked independently or was attached to an elite group; the

second, concentration, considers whether the production facilities in a region were

dispersed or concentrated; the third, scale, considers whether the production units

were small or large scale (i.e., family or factory based); and the fourth, intensity, considers whether the potters worked part-time or full-time.

Rice (1991), rather than trying to define a typology for the modes of pottery

production, suggested four main categories, or archaeological manifestations, of

specialization. The first category is resource specialization, where specific raw

materials were used in the production of different types of pottery; the second is

functional or product specialization, where each group of potters concentrated on

one type of vessel; the third is site specialization, where a particular community devoted a large part of its productive energy to pottery production; and the fourth

is producer specialization, where the potter became a specialist with an increased

reliance on pottery production for livelihood and an increased level of skill. Two of

these categories (site specialization and producer specialization) are comparable to two of the parameters (concentration and intensity) proposed by Costin (1991).

The evidence used to reconstruct the organization of production can be ei

ther direct or indirect. Direct evidence comes from excavation of actual pottery

production workshops and includes unfired clay and other raw materials, molds

and other portable tools, and kilns, firing pits, and related structures, together with

any firing wasters. When production workshops do not survive or have not been

located, then one has to infer the mode of production from the surviving pottery itself. Factors that need to be considered in the latter situation include the degree of standardization, the labor requirements and level of technology, and the pattern of distribution.

192 Tite

A high degree of standardization, or homogeneity, in raw material compo sition, manufacturing techniques, and vessel shape and dimensions is generally assumed to reflect specialized mass production, whereas variation or relative het

erogeneity is taken to indicate household production. For example, Henrickson

(1995) has suggested that the observed progressive reduction in the degree of care

employed in forming and finishing pottery at Godin Tepe in Iran during the Bronze

Age was due to a change from specialist potters employed in a workshop to less

skilled potters who were, perhaps, household-based. He further suggests that, in this case, the simpler mode of production, in turn, reflects a reduction in the size of the regional economic units.

A high level of craft skill and complexity in production techniques together with an investment in permanent facilities and in equipment is similarly regarded as evidence for specialised production. Further, the identification of a limited number of production centers combined with evidence of widespread distribution of a particular type of pottery from these centers is again seen as being an indication of specialization.

Standardization Hypothesis

Blackman et al (1993) have used a group of fine-ware stacked kiln wasters from the urban center of Leilan, Syria (ca. 2300 BC), as a starting point for in

vestigating whether or not the degree of standardization provides a valid index for specialization. For the wasters, they observed a high level of homogeneity in the vessel dimensions (rim diameter, wall thickness below rim, vessel height, base

diameter, basal thickness), together with a standardization of the procedures fol lowed at each stage in the vessel production. Similarly, a high level of homogeneity in the chemical compositions of the bodies, as determined by NAA, was observed,

although this is perhaps less surprising since it seems likely that the entire stack of wasters were made from a single batch of clay. When the study was extended to include sherds of the same vessel type from other contexts at Leilan, the homo

geneity became more blurred, with the coefficients of variation for rim diameter

being more than two times greater and those for chemical composition three to five times greater than the corresponding values for the stacked kiln wasters.

On the basis of these results, they argued that the standardization hypothesis is clearly valid for pottery which has been mass-produced by a given specialist

workshop in a single production event, as in the case of the stacked kiln wasters.

Further, even though multiple production events in several workshops resulted in increased variation in clay composition and vessel dimensions, this blurring does not completely obscure the standardization signature associated with specialised

mass production. They suggested, therefore, that standardization can be an effective index of craft specialization under conditions of close spatial and chronological control over the pottery under investigation.


These conclusions are entirely consistent with the results of ethnoarchaeolog ical studies. For example, Longacre et al ( 1988) have shown that, in the production

of cooking vessels in the Philippines, specialist producers achieve a higher degree of dimensional standardization than did household producers. However, they have

also emphasized that, in order to obtain meaningful results in such studies, it is cru

cial to restrict the shape, the function, and the size range of the vessels selected for

analysis from the available assemblage, whether ethnographic or archaeological.

Two Case Studies

Andrews (1993,1997) has reconstructed the production technology employed for three types of late Iron Age pottery from the Auvergne region in France, and

then, through consideration of the raw materials, labor requirements, and level

of technology, he has attempted to infer the mode of production, as defined in

the typology proposed by Peacock (1982). The most sophisticated of the three

types was the "painted" pottery, which was decorated with red, cream, white,

gray, and black pigments or slips (Andrews, 1991). Its production required a wide

range of raw materials, a complex sequence of procedures for processing, forming, and decorating, together with the associated investment in equipment, and a kiln

firing in which the atmosphere was varied between semireducing and strongly

oxidizing. Andrews (1993,1997) therefore argued that the mode of production for

"painted" pottery was a nucleated workshop in which a team of specialist artisans

was employed. In contrast, the production of the black burnished ware required

only a single clay for both body and slip, with a wheel for forming as the principal investment in equipment and with firing only in a reducing atmosphere for which a

bonfire would have been sufficient. Because of the use of a wheel, production in an

individual workshop, rather than household production, was proposed for the black

burnished ware. Finally, the white slipped flagons exhibit evidence for "assembly line" production. First, the handles are frequently detached, implying drying-out

between construction of the vessel and application of the handle, and second,

drips of slip are found on internal uncoated surfaces, implying mass production

techniques rather than the care displayed by individual potters. Production in a

manufactory was, therefore, suggested.

Day et al (1997) have reassessed the evidence for specialisation in pottery

production in Crete during the Prepalatial period. In this case, rather than trying to identify the particular mode of production, they have considered whether or not

Prepalatial Cretan pottery production conforms to the four types of specialization defined by Rice (1991). Thus, they have argued, first, that the use of specific raw

materials in the production of different types of pottery (e.g., cooking vessels, dark-on-white painted wares, storage jars) provides evidence for resource special ization and, second, that the large-scale and wide-ranging distribution over the is

land of pottery from identified production centers is evidence of site specialization.

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Further, the fact that certain ware categories, defined largely on the basis of sur

face decoration, have only a limited number of shapes and only one type of fabric

suggests product specialization by different groups of potters. Finally, they argue that the skills, technological competence, and investment in equipment, particu

larly in achieving the three-stage oxidizing-reducing-oxidizing firing cycle re

quired to produce a reduced iron-oxide black pigment, is evidence of producer

specialization. On the basis of these data, they concluded that pottery, as a specialized craft

activity, did not start in Crete with the advent of palaces, as has frequently been

suggested, but was already well established by the Prepalatial period. Further,

they suggested that, even during the Neolithic period, pottery was produced by

specialists, rather than within the household production mode, and that ethnoar

chaeological studies in Africa, with their emphasis on the evolution from household

to specialist pottery production, may have limited applicability to the early Aegean world. Rather, it seems possible that the converse situation prevails, with less highly decorated, more functional pottery being produced in a household setting in the

later Neolithic.

DISTRIBUTION

The investigation of the exchange and trade in pottery starts with identifying the production center or centers from which an assemblage of pottery originated.

The first step toward this identification is to group together pottery made from

the same combination of clay and temper, using either thin-section petrography or chemical analysis for major, minor, and trace elements. Next, one tries to es

tablish for each group of pottery, thus defined, whether it was locally produced or

imported, and if the latter, one then tries to identify its actual production center

and/or the sources of clay and temper used. This is attempted through a combina

tion of archaeological criteria such as the abundances of particular pottery types,

geological knowledge of the region under investigation, and direct comparison of

the petrography or the chemical compositions for the pottery groups with those of

either raw materials from possible clay and temper sources or pottery samples from

known production centers. The success of direct comparison with the raw materials

depends, of course, on the between-source variation exceeding the within-source

variation, as specified in the so-called "provenance postulate" (Weigand et al,

1977). In addition, such an approach is feasible only for areas of the world where

extensive sampling of available clay sources is feasible and where those sources

used in antiquity were not completely depleted. In interpreting the data from such distribution or provenance studies, it is also

crucial to remember that the petrography and chemical composition of the pottery does not just reflect those of some specific raw material source but is determined

in part by cultural practices in paste preparation. Thus, the potters usually first


process the clay, by refining to remove unwanted nonplastic inclusions, by mixing

together more than one clay, or by adding further nonplastic inclusions as temper. Furthermore, although the observed distribution is, in the great majority of cases, the result of the movement of pottery, either as a commodity in its own right or

as a container for some other commodity, it must always be borne in mind that

the observed distribution could alternatively be due to the movement of either raw

materials or people bringing pottery with them.

Having established whether a class of pottery was made locally or was im

ported and, in the latter case, having identified its actual production center, then, in order to realize the full potential of the data, the exchange or trade in the pottery needs to be considered within the overall environmental, technological, economic,

sociopolitical, cultural-ideological, and historical context in which it was pro duced. For example, consideration should be given to the role of exchange or trade in pottery in establishing contacts between people and thus contributing towards

changes in technology, subsistence, social organisation and ideology. In the following, the principal methods used in distribution or provenance

studies, that is, thin-section petrography and chemical analysis, are first described,

together with proposals for an integrated methodology. The general interpretation, in terms of exchange and trade, of the data thus obtained is then discussed and the

results of a selection of representative case studies are outlined.

Thin-Section Petrography

Thin-section petrography is used to identify the monomineralic or rock frag ment inclusions present within the clay matrix of a pottery body. Typically, the fine

sand or larger particles, greater than 60 /xm (0.06 mm) in diameter, are treated as

nonplastic inclusions, the silt particles in the range 20-60 /xm being treated as part of the clay matrix (Bishop, 1980, p. 49). Depending on whether these inclusions were intrinsic to the clay or were added deliberately as temper, they reflect the

geology of the region from which the clay or the added temper, respectively, was

obtained.

Therefore, when the inclusions derive from distinctive igneous and metamor

phic rocks, thin-section petrography of coarse-textured pottery provides a predic tive method for identifying the source of the raw materials used in the production of the pottery. Very occasionally, a particular "key" inclusion type allows one to

identify the precise source of the raw materials. This was the situation for a type of

Neolithic pottery, known as Hembury ware, which is found within an area in South west England, some 300 km across and stretching from Cornwall to Wiltshire. This

pottery contains fragments of a metamorphised igneous rock, known as gabbro, which, within the distribution zone of the pottery, is found only on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall (Peacock, 1969, 1988). However, it is extremely rare to be able to identify a clay or temper source on the basis of a particular "key" inclusion

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type, and instead, a more complete p?trographie description of the inclusions

present in the pottery under investigation is normally essential.

Miksa and Heidke (1995) have developed a systematic procedure for iden

tifying the sources of the sand temper added to pottery and have applied this

procedure to prehistoric pottery from the Tonto Basin in Arizona. First, following the procedures established by Lombard (1987), they undertook thin-section p?t

rographie modal analysis or point counting on some 200 sand samples collected

from the Tonto Basin, over an area of some 700 km2. On the basis of the relative

proportions of the different monomineralic or rock fragment grains, they defined

17 sand petrofacies associated with different zones within the Basin. Hand-sample

descriptions under a low-power binocular microscope were next prepared for each

petrofacies and these were then used to create a flowchart which provided a logi cal step-by-step procedure for identifying sand petrofacies in hand sample. Next, this procedure was applied to all the rim sherds and reconstructed vessels (about

2000) from the complete pottery assemblage, fresh fracture sections being exam

ined under a binocular microscope. Confirmation of the validity of the different

petrofacies or temper groups thus defined in hand sample was then achieved by means of thin-section p?trographie modal analysis on some 5% of the samples. On the basis of these data, Miksa and Heidke (1995) were able to assign the sand

temper in some 70% of the pottery to the different petrofacies zones within the

Tonto Basin, the remainder being from unidentified sources outside the Basin.

Such a comprehensive analysis of the sand tempers available in the pottery

production region under investigation is not always feasible or appropriate. How

ever, in regions with a relatively complex igneous and metamorphic geology, it is often possible, in the case of coarse-textured pottery, to suggest the general

area (or areas) from which the temper could have originated on the basis of the

p?trographie description of the pottery fabric itself. In contrast, within a more ho

mogeneous geological region, dominated by sedimentary rocks, it is much more

difficult to suggest source areas for the temper, since the quartz sand, limestone,

flint, and shell, which are typically used as temper, are widely available. In the case

of quartz sand temper, either grain size analysis of the quartz inclusions (Streeten,

1982) or heavy mineral analysis (Peacock, 1967) can sometimes help in identify

ing the source of the temper. However, such quantitative methods are not always successful and are, in any case, very time-consuming, with heavy mineral analysis

requiring expertise which is in short supply. Therefore, chemical analysis is often the more appropriate technique for such pottery.

In fine-textured pottery, the polymineralic rock fragment inclusions which

provide the best evidence for source geology do not generally survive. Therefore, minor and trace element analysis is, again, normally the favored technique. How

ever, in the case of the fine-textured pottery produced in some volcanic regions, such as southern Italy, the presence of very fine fragments of volcanic glass can

be diagnostic of the source geology (Freestone, 1995, p. 113).


Chemical Analysis

Chemical analysis of pottery for major, minor, and trace elements provides a

compositional "fingerprint" for grouping together pottery made from the same raw

materials and for distinguishing between groups of pottery made from different raw materials. Because of the variability in chemical compositions within an indi

vidual clay or temper source and the possible similarity in composition of different

sources, provenance studies based on chemical compositions involve the analysis of a large number of samples, which are then grouped together using statistical

methods. In selecting pottery samples for analysis, it is important that, as far as

is possible, each group (ideally 15-20 samples) is made up of pottery of a single

type, from a single period, and from a single site.

As in the case of thin-section petrography of pottery containing coarse in

clusions derived from igneous and metamorphic rocks, chemical compositions can also often be used to predict the general area of production on the basis of

geochemical considerations. Thus, high concentrations of chromium and cobalt

indicate the presence of mafic mineral inclusions, whereas high concentrations of

the rare earth elements suggest association with acid igneous rocks (Blackman etal, 1989, p. 69).

In the early days of provenance studies using chemical analysis, the princi

pal analytical techniques were optical emission spectroscopy (OES), instrumental

neutron activation analysis (INAA), and x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). OES was superseded, first? by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and, more

recently, by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICPS), either alone or in

combination with mass spectrometry (ICPS-MS). INAA and XRF have contin

ued to be used, and of the other new techniques introduced, proton-induced x-ray emission analysis (PIXE) has found the widest application.

In selecting the method of analysis to be used for provenance studies, the

principal criteria, in addition to availability of equipment, are the range of elements

that can be analyzed; the concentration range covered (i.e., from major through minor to trace element concentrations); the accuracy and, perhaps more important, the precision of the analyses; the ease of sample preparation and the speed of

analysis; and finally, the cost per sample analyzed. Because abundant pottery sherds are normally available for analysis, minimizing the sample size and thus

the extent of damage is rarely necessary. Instead, it is more important to ensure

that the sample size is sufficiently large for the analysis to be representative of the

pottery, which can exhibit considerable inhomogeneity. INAA is, up to the present day, the analytical technique that has been most

widely and successfully used for pottery provenance studies. The method can

analyze for more than 30 elements at the minor and trace concentration level, down to less than 1 ppmt with a high precision and accuracy. In part because all

element concentrations are normally determined against a standard sample, which

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is included with each batch, analytical data can be readily exchanged between

laboratories. Powdered samples are used, and therefore, sample preparation is

comparatively easy. A possible disadvantage of the method is that, because of the

short associated half-lives, the concentrations of some major and minor elements

(e.g., aluminium, magnesium, titanium), including those that influence the firing

properties of the clay, are not routinely determined in all laboratories. In Europe, a potentially more serious problem is the fact that access to nuclear reactors for

irradiation of the samples is becoming increasingly difficult, as existing reactors

in many countries are being closed down and are not being replaced. However, this is much less of a problem in the United States, where several reactor centers

are actively engaged in the analysis of archaeological ceramics. Of particular

importance in this context is the Research Reactor Center at the University of

Missouri, which, through its NSF-supported program, provides access to INAA

facilities to archaeologists throughout the United States.

XRF can analyze for some 15-20 elements, including all the major elements.

Powdered, pelleted samples are used, and, in principle, it should again be possible to exchange data between laboratories. In spite of the matrix effect on x-ray ab

sorption, the precision and accuracy are greater than those achieved with INAA for

some elements, although less for others. However, the detection limits are rarely better than about 10-20 ppm. With PIXE, using a highly focused proton beam,

many elements can be analyzed down to concentrations of 1 ppm or less. How

ever, to achieve a representative bulk analysis, the beam must be defocused, with

a consequent increase in the detection limits. Therefore, it is not obvious whether

the greatly increased cost of operating a PIXE accelerator, compared to a standard

XRF spectrometry, is normally justified.

ICPS, also, has the capacity to analyze a total of up to some 30 major, minor, and trace elements with detection limits of the order of 1 ppm and, once procedures for sample dissolution and for taking into account interferences between elements

have been established, with a high precision and accuracy. Sample preparation is

more time-consuming than for INAA or XRF since the powdered samples must

be dissolved in concentrated acids. However, sample analysis is again rapid since

all the element concentrations are measured simultaneously, whereas with AAS, which ICPS has effectively superseded, each element concentration is measured

sequentially. When ICPS is combined with mass spectrometry (MS), a wider range of elements, including the rare earths, can be analyzed with 1-ppm detection limits

and the resulting isotopic data may also be helpful in distinguishing between

pottery produced from different raw materials.

A recent development, introduced to reduce the cost per analysis, has been

to analyze, using ICPS, the solution resulting from weak-acid extraction from

a pottery sherd rather than the solution of the bulk sherd in concentrated acids

(Burton and Simon, 1993). It is argued that the weak-acid solution comes more

from the clay matrix of the pottery than from the nonplastic inclusions. However, there will certainly also be a contribution from any calcite inclusions, as well


as possibly from some feldspar inclusions, and from postmanufacture additions

from use and the depositional environment Furthermore, the composition of the

weak-acid solution is dependent on the firing temperature, time, and atmosphere used in the production of the pottery. Therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that

the results of such an analysis do not agree with the bulk analyses obtained using INAA (Neff et al, 1996; Triadan etal, 1997). However, in spite of these obvious

discrepancies, Burton and Simon (1996) continue to argue that, because weak

acid extraction analyses reflect behavioral factors such as the potter's choice of

clay, temper, and firing conditions, they provide valuable additional information

for investigating technological choice in pottery production. The weakness of this

argument is that there is no obvious way of separating out the different behavioral

factors. Therefore, it is difficult to see how weak-acid extraction analyses can make a meaningful contribution to our understanding of either the production technology or the provenance of the pottery under investigation.

Because the chemical composition of pottery depends, in part, on cultural

practices in clay preparation (Blackman, 1992), the compositional data obtained for pottery cannot be used in a simple-minded search for the clay source ex

ploited by the ancient potters. Instead, a first step is to search for structure in the

data for the pottery assemblage from a particular site or cluster of sites, using

principal-components analysis and/or cluster analysis (Bishop and Neff, 1989;

Baxter, 1994a). In principal-components analysis, which permits the compression of multivariate compositional data into a few dimensions, the first principal com

ponent accounts for the direction of maximum variance through the data, with each

successive component accounting for the maximum of the remaining variation. In

cluster analysis, the compositional resemblance between pairs of samples is as

sessed using a range of different similarity measures, and a dendrogram, in which

samples with greatest similarity are linked together, is thus built up. In using cluster

analysis, one must remember that, although providing a useful method of obtain

ing an overview of compositionally based similarities, it will, by its very nature,

produce "groups" out of almost any data. Also, a two-dimensional representation of the ?-dimensional data results in considerable distortion.

Having defined hypothetical pottery groups by principal-components or clus ter analysis, the next stage is to evaluate their validity both subjectively, by inspect

ing, for example, bivariate (i.e., two-element) plots, and statistically. A commonly used statistical method (Bishop and Neff, 1989) is to determine the probability of

each individual sample belonging to the hypothetical group to which it was pre

viously assigned by calculating the Mahalanobis distance from the sample point to that group centroid. An alternative approach is to take the hypothetical groups defined by principal-components or cluster analysis and to apply to them discrim inant analysis (Baxter, 1994b) in which the multivariate compositional data are

combined to produce a two-dimensional plot (first two discriminant functions) in which the within-group distances are minimized and the between-group dis tances are maximized. The probabilities of individual samples belonging to the

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hypothetical groups to which they were previously assigned are then determined

by calculating the Mahalanobis distances from the sample points to each of the

new discriminant analysis group centroids. Statistical methods are also available

(Beier and Mommsen, 1994) to bring together into a single group samples whose

chemical compositions differ only because of the presence of different amounts

of chemically pure temper inclusions, such as quartz, which act as a "dilutant."

Otherwise, the addition of different amounts of "diluting" temper to the same clay could result in the formation of two or more compositional groups. However, since

the use of different amounts of temper could itself be of cultural significance, it is

important that this information is not lost.

Finally, an attempt must be made to infer, for each group, whether it was pro duced locally at the site at which it was found, whether it was produced within the

immediate region (i.e., intraregional exchange), or whether it was imported through

long-distance interregional exchange or trade. In making these inferences, archae

ological criteria, in particular, the relative abundance of different pottery types, are used first. Thus, an initial assumption is that a pottery type strongly repre sented at a site has been produced locally and that sparsely represented pottery has a nonlocal origin. Similarly, large and heavy vessels, such as large storage

jars, are likely to have been made relatively near to where they were used. Second, confirmation of the feasibility of local or intraregional production is sought by

checking whether the temper inclusions present in the pottery, as identified by thin-section petrography, could have derived from the local geology and whether

the chemical composition of the pottery is, at least, consistent with those of lo

cal clay sources. In the latter context, in addition to the collection and chemical

analysis of local clay samples, full use should be made of available published

geochemical data. Third, on those rare occasions when production debris in the

form of kiln wasters is available, comparison of the chemical compositions of the wasters with those of the pottery can provide further confirmation as to whether or not the latter was locally produced. However, even in this situation, if the kiln wasters are of a different vessel type from the pottery group under investigation, it is still possible that different clay sources or clay preparation procedures were

employed. Other factors that need to be considered in interpreting chemical composition

data are possible changes in composition either during firing or during burial

subsequent to discard. However, it seems very unlikely that firing will have caused a

problem, since Cogswell etal. (1996) have shown that, with the possible exception of bromine, no volatilization of 34 elements occurred when clay tiles were fired to

temperatures in the range 100-1100?C. Similarly, although major/minor elements such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium can be readily leached from or deposited within pottery during burial in a range of environmental conditions

(Freeth, 1967), the transition and rare earth elements, which are of particular importance in defining compositional groups, tend to be immobile (Bishop et al,

1982, p. 296).


An Integrated Methodology

The details of the sampling strategy for a specific distribution or provenance

study will obviously depend on its particular objectives. However, in all cases, it is

important that as large a proportion of the total relevant ceramic assemblage as is

realistic is used to define, and to establish the relative proportions of, the different

types of pottery available for further examination. In addition, it is essential to

investigate the geology of the region from which the pottery originated and, as far as is possible, to collect samples of the locally available raw materials (i.e., both

clays and sands, which could have been used for temper). In defining the pottery types, the first step is to divide the assemblage accord

ing to the different chronological periods represented. Next, for each period, the

pottery types are defined, first, in terms of shape, size, and surface decoration and,

second, according to fabric or temper type, the latter involving examination of fresh

fracture sections with a low-power binocular microscope. Having thus selected the

pottery types, representative sherds of each type should next be examined using thin-section petrography. The first aim is to establish the validity of the temper types defined by low-power binocular microscopy. However, thin-section petrography also provides the detailed p?trographie description required for comparison with

data on both the local geology and the petrography of the collected samples of lo

cally available clays and sands. In this way, it should be possible to predict, at least

in the case of regions with a distinctive igneous or metamorphic geology, the gen eral area from which the raw materials used to produce the pottery were obtained.

In the case of coarse-textured pottery without diagnostic inclusions or most

fine-textured pottery, thin-section petrography is of limited value for establishing provenance. Therefore, at this stage in the study, one should move on to the appli cation of chemical analysis, some 15-20 sherds of each pottery type being selected

together with the collected samples of locally available clays. However, the results

of the thin-section petrography are still potentially valuable in that they provide in

formation on variations in temper types and temper concentrations which is crucial

for the successful interpretation of the chemical analysis data.

The potential of an integrated approach is illustrated by the classic study of

pottery produced on Hopi mesas in Arizona between 1300 and 1600 AD, under

taken by Bishop etal (1988). In this study, it was possible to distinguish, on the

basis of chemical composition together with technological and stylistic analysis, between the pottery produced by potters from different villages on the same mesa

only 8 km apart, as well as between that produced by different groups of potters

working in the same village.

Exchange and Trade

Crucial to the satisfactory interpretation of the p?trographie and chemical

analysis data is the quantification of the trends in the distribution patterns of the

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pottery away from the various production centers. Thus, as discussed by Plog

(1977), one needs to establish the scale or intensity, the directionality and symme

try, and the duration of the associated exchange or trade. Further, it is important, when considering the exchange or trade in pottery, to bear in mind that pottery is

probably only one of a range of artifacts and subsistence products included within

the exchange or trade system. Although exchange and trade are often used inter

changeably (Renfrew, 1975, p. 4), in the present paper, the distinction recently pro

posed for use in archaeological contexts by Zedeno ( 1994, p. 16) is employed. Thus

exchange refers to recurrent, independent, symmetrical, and small-scale material

transactions that did not have the organizational requirements or the economic

impact of trade networks but that served to reinforce intercommunity relation

ships. Conversely, trade refers to organized, large-scale material transactions that

took place regularly over relatively long periods of time and involved the flow of

significant quantities of goods. The possible modes of exchange or trade, as defined by Renfrew (1975),

include reciprocity, which involves exchange between two individuals; down-the

line reciprocity, which involves a succession of exchanges between individuals; redistribution from a central place; and middleman trading. The fall-off in the quan

tity of a particular type of pottery with increasing distance from the source can, in principle, assist in distinguishing between the different modes of exchange or

trade. For example, the fall-off with distance from the source will tend to be more

rapid in the case of down-the-line reciprocity compared to middleman trading.

Similarly, redistribution from a central place is likely to produce localized regions of higher concentration along the fall-off curve. However, in attempting to infer

the mode of exchange from the fall-off data, it is necessary also to consider the

means of transport available and the uses, as defined under Consumption, to which

the pottery would have been put, both of which can affect the distance traveled

by the pottery away from source. Thus, the distances associated with transport

by sea or river will tend to have been greater than those by land, and on land, the distances associated with transport involving wheeled vehicles or animals will

tend to have been greater than those involving only man. Similarly, pottery used

for sociopolitical or ideological/ritual purposes will tend to have traveled greater distances than that used for utilitarian purposes. Therefore, it is rarely possible to

identify unambiguously the mode of exchange or trade from the fall-off data.

In practice, there do not appear to have been any major fall-off studies based on the distribution of pottery as determined by either thin-section petrography or

chemical analysis. This deficiency is due, at least in part, to the difficulty of obtain

ing the necessary quantitative data for the very large pottery assemblages which

are typically involved. However, the potential of such an approach is illustrated by fall-off studies in which the pottery type under investigation is identified on the

basis of style. Thus, in a study of Roman pottery produced in the Oxford region in

England, Fulford and Hodder (1975) established the importance of water transport


as a method of distribution, in that the fall-off in the percentage of this pottery with distance from Oxford was significantly less rapid for sites with good access

to Oxford by water than for those without such easy access. They also showed that

the percentage of pottery produced in the Oxford region was further reduced in the

New Forest region, where the competition from pottery produced at the local kilns was presumably too great for the Oxford wares to make much impact. Similarly,

Fry (1980) has used fall-off curves for a range of vessel types, identified on the

basis of their micaceous fabrics, to investigate the complex pottery distribution

system around Tikal, Guatemala, during the Late Classic Maya period. More recently, Osborne (1996) has summarized the data for the distribution

within the Classical world of fine red- and black-figure ware produced in Athens

during the period from 600 to 500 BC. In this case, the products of different

workshops and painters could be distinguished on the basis of the stylistic attributes

of the painted decoration. The observed distribution strongly suggested that the

different workshops in Athens were producing pottery specifically designed to

meet the demands of particular markets. For example, some 96% of the products of the "Nikosthenic" workshop, operating during the second half of the sixth

century BC, were found in the Etruscan region, with the majority of the amphorae being found at Cerveteri and the majority of the small kyathoi at Vulci and Orvieto.

Similarly, the majority of the skyphoi from the workshop of the Theseus and Athena

Painters, operating around 500BC, was found in the region around Athens, whereas the majority of the oinochoai from the same workshop was found in East Greece

and Etruria. On the basis of these data, Osborne argued that the exchange of goods within the archaic Greek world was not the result of the need to meet occasional

shortfalls in agricultural products. Instead, it involved a regular network of trading links between Athens and individual ports around the Mediterranean. Thus, one

needs to envisage a conglomeration of interdependent markets in which production and prices in producing and consuming cities were linked.

A selection of pottery distribution studies, illustrating the range of informa tion that can be obtained for archaeological contexts involving different modes of

exchange or trade, are presented below. In each of these case studies, chemical

element analysis has been the primary method employed to discriminate between

pottery from different production centers, with the integrated methodology be

ing followed to varying degrees. The first case study (i.e., Mayan pottery from

the Palenque region in Mexico) is intraregional in range, the aim being to in

vestigate the relationship between pottery production and distribution within a

comparatively restricted region. The second case study (i.e., stoneware bangles from the Indus Valley Harappan civilization) should also probably be regarded as intraregional, even though the distances over which the stoneware bangles are

distributed are very significantly greater than those involved in the Mayan pottery study. In contrast, the final two case studies (i.e., Hispano-Moresque lusterware and Roman terracotta lamps) are certainly interregional in range, their aim being

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to obtain information on pottery being traded on a more global scale. All four

studies relate to pottery produced within complex urban societies, most probably

by specialist potters operating in workshops, manufactories, or factories. However, it should be remembered that pottery produced within a household setting is also

frequently exchanged or traded, at least on an intraregional scale. For example, as

already discussed, Neolithic Hembury ware was distributed throughout Southwest

England over distances of some 300 km, probably as part of a gift exchange system (Peacock, 1969, 1988).

Case Studies

Since the early 1970s, a massive program of analysis of Mayan pottery, using INAA, has been undertaken in the United States, first, at the Brookhaven National

Laboratory and, subsequently, at the Conservation Analytical Laboratory at the

Smithsonian Institution. A total of some 12,000 pottery samples has been analyzed to date (Bishop, 1994). One project within this overall program has been the Greater

Palenque Survey involving the study of pottery from the major civic-ceremonial center of Palenque and from sites in the surrounding region up to distances of about 70 km, spanning the period from the Early to Late Classic (150-800 AD). For this

project, an integrated methodology has been employed, with some 100,000 fabric

characterizations by binocular microscopy, some 1500 thin-section p?trographie examinations, and some 2300 analyses by INAA. A primary aim of the project was to define the pattern of pottery production, consumption, and exchange at an

intraregional level and, thus, to contribute to the documentation of the ceremonial and economic development of Palenque, and of its changing relationship with its

satellite sites.

The results of the combined scientific examinations indicated that, during the

Early Classic period (150-500 AD), there was a change from predominantly local

production of pottery at Palenque to a situation where some of the pottery was

imported from the southern Usumacinta zone, which was outside the region of

Palenquea subsequent influence. This change was consistent with the evolution of Palenque from a locally oriented village on the Maya periphery toward a more

hierarchically organized society. During the Middle Classic period (500-600 AD),

pottery was imported from a larger number of sources and there was less emphasis on imports from southern Usumacinta. Finally, during the Late Classic period (600-800 AD), when there was very extensive building activity and Palenque became a major civic-ceremonial center, a complex and changing pattern of pottery

import and export between Palenque and its satellites was observed. Thus, Bishop (1994, p. 34), has argued that locally produced Palenque pottery with a ritual function served to reinforce the individual status or power of the ruling elite.

Further, the export of such ritual pottery from Palenque to nearby localities reflected an interest in integrating different regions into the Palenque polity?a linkage that


was reinforced by the export to Palenque of certain types of utilitarian pottery from

particular satellite sites.

Blackman and Vidale (1992) have investigated, using INAA, the production and distribution of stoneware bangles associated with the Indus Valley Harappan civilization. Several factors point to the bangles being luxury artifacts with a unique social function. First, they are relatively rare, with their use apparently being restricted to the two major centers of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa; second, the

associated production technology was complex; and, third, inscriptions are present on both the bangles and the saggars used in their production. The primary aims of

the study were to establish whether all the bangles were made at Mohenjo-Daro, where a production workshop had been located, or whether they ware produced at

both Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, and thus to contribute to the discussion on the

autonomy or interdependency of these two major centers.

The results of INAA of bangles from Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, saggars from the Mohenjo-Daro production workshop, and a modern bangle made from

local Harappa clay yielded two distinct chemical compositional groups. All the

Mohenjo-Daro bangles plus some 30% of the Harappa bangles fell within the first

group, which, because it also included the saggars, was almost certainly produced at Mohenjo-Daro. The remaining bangles from Harappa fell within the second

group, which, because it included the modern bangle, was almost certainly made

at Harappa. These results indicate that, although both centers possessed the tech

nological capability to produce bangles, there was a unidirectional movement of

bangles over a distance of some 600 km from Mohenjo-Daro to Harappa. Thus, the

results provide the first direct material evidence for interaction between these two

major centers. However, the asymmetrical nature of the interaction with respect to

the movement of bangles remains unexplained. The investigation of the trade in Hispano-Moresque lusterware, using both

INAA and thin-section petrography, has been reported by Hughes and Vince ( 1986) and by Hughes ( 1991 ). Lusterware was produced at a number of sites in Spain from

the 13th century onward and was exported to several other countries in Europe. The

two major production centers were Malaga, which was in operation from the mid

13th century until the late 15th century, and Valencia, which did not start production until the late 14th century but then eclipsed Malaga as the major production center

during the 15th century, Valencia lusterware was initially produced by Muslim

potters from Malaga who moved north, probably as a result of the blockage by Christian ships off the coast of southern Spain. Early Malaga and late Valencia

lusterwares are readily distinguished on the basis of style but the late 14th- and

early 15th-century products of the two centers are difficult to distinguish.

Samples of lusterware known to have been produced at these two major cen

ters, were analyzed using INAA, together with samples from two minor production centers at Barcelona and Jerez (Seville). In this case, the products of Malaga and

Valencia could be distinguished from each other using scatter plots of pairs of ele

ments (e.g., scandium versus chromium). Using discriminant analysis, it was then

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possible both to distinguish the products of the four centers and to determine from

which production center the lusterware exported to other parts of Europe orig inated. Thus, it was shown that late medieval London received lusterware from

both Malaga and Valencia, with Valencia lusterware becoming progressively more

dominant. Further, the results strongly suggest that the lusterware tiles used at the

Alhambra at Granada were produced at Malaga rather than at Granada itself.

Schneider and Wirz (1992) have investigated, using XRF, the distribution of a type of Roman terracotta lamp, the so-called Firmalampen, which was produced from the first to the third centuries AD. These lamps, which have the maker's name

stamped on their bases and which are found in abundance throughout the northern

Roman provinces, have been grouped into four main types on the basis of their

macroscopic appearance (Loeschcke, 1919). From the archaeological evidence, it is generally assumed that type A was produced near Modena in the Po Valley in northern Italy. The other three types (B, C, and D), which include lamps with

the same maker's stamps as found in type A, had previously been thought to be

unauthorized copies of imported original lamps from the Po Valley, which were

being produced at a number of centers in northern Europe. The aim of the study was to establish whether types B, C, and D were indeed unauthorized copies or

whether, instead, they were the product of branch workshops set up from the central

production center in the Po Valley. The results of the XRF analysis on lamps from the legionary camp of

Vindonissa in Switzerland showed that nearly all the lamps fall into three composi tional groups corresponding to types A plus B, C, and D. From the archaeological evidence, the first chemical group, associated with types A plus B, was assigned to

the Po Valley production site. From a combination of archaeological evidence and

comparison with the chemical composition of locally produced pottery, the second

chemical group, associated with type C, was thought to have been produced near

Lyon in France and the third group, associated with type D, in the Trier region of

the Rhineland. Thus, nearly 90% of the lamps found at Vindonissa were manu

factured at only three major lamp-making centers, all of them very distant from the site. It seems very likely, therefore, that the production centers at Lyon and

in the Rhineland were branch workshops of larger firms based in the Po Valley, since it is hard to believe that unauthorized copies were being made nearly exclu

sively at two large centers far away from the place where they were sold and used. This interpretation is supported by the fact that lamps from a range of sites in the

northern provinces, all bearing one of the most commonly found maker's stamp (i.e., FORTIS), fall into the same three compositional groups, corresponding again to types A plus B, C, and D. The existence of large pottery-producing firms with

branch workshops is something already known from the study of Roman terra

sigillata, the products of the firm of ATEIUS, with branches in Arezzo, Pisa, and

Lyon, having been similarly studied by chemical analysis (Picon and Garmier,

1974). In the case of both terracotta lamps and terra sigillata, the firms appear to


have been grouped at a limited number of centers and, on the basis of the chemical

analyses, to have made use at each center of the same clay sources.

CONSUMPTION

The uses to which pottery vessels were put range from utilitarian, for exam

ple, for storage, food preparation (e.g., soaking, grinding), cooking (e.g., boiling,

roasting), serving, and individual eating or drinking, through sociopolitical and

ideological or ritual. The latter nonutilitarian functions, which can themselves in

volve storage, cooking, or eating, include presentation as a gift, which serves to

accrue future benefits or to establish bonds between social groups at all levels

from families to states, and use as a prestige object to display success or power, for example, as part of competitive or reciprocal feasting.

The first step in investigating the use, or reuse, to which particular pottery vessels were put is a careful assessment of the archaeological contexts in which

the vessels were found and of the formation processes that could have affected

them. For example, Kolb (1988) has investigated the contexts in which Classic

Teotihuacan-period copoid ceramics from urban and rural sites in the Teotihuacan

Valley in Mexico were found. In addition to being discarded in house middens, some copoid ceramics were recovered from kitchens, some from central court

yards, and some from graves, but none from the altar platforms or benches located

in the central courtyards. On the basis of these data, together with information on dimensions and shape, he attempted to distinguish among ceramics used for

culinary, ceremonial, and ritual purposes. Next, one looks for and, as appropriate, analyzes the surface traces resulting

from vessel usage such as surface wear, soot deposits on the exterior of the pottery, and organic residues either adhering to the interior or absorbed within the body of

the pottery. Finally, one tries to infer use from those performance characteristics

that are determined by the dimensions and shape of the vessels. A detailed discus

sion of the full range of performance characteristics required in use is presented under Technological Innovation and Choice in the context of the constraints that

they impose on technological choice.

As in the case of production technology and distribution, consumption or use

studies should be directed at pottery assemblages that are representative of the

pottery in use within an archaeological context at a particular time. However, as

indicated by ethnoarchaeological studies of the disposal of broken pottery vessels

(DeBoer and Lathrap, 1979; Kramer, 1985; Lindahl, 1995), obtaining such an

assemblage is rarely easy. The fragments from a broken vessel can be widely

dispersed, so that it is difficult to reconstruct even the form of complete vessels, and only rarely is it possible to obtain the actual complete vessels preferred for the

study of surface wear and distribution of organic residues.

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Use Alteration

Surface wear or attrition, in the form of scratches, pits, and chips, can provide evidence for the ways in which pottery was used. Ethnoarchaeological studies

of groups of pottery, whose use has been observed and recorded, can provide the control data for interpreting the surface wear on pottery from archaeological contexts. Thus, on the basis of the results from a study of an assemblage of pottery in use in a Kalinga village in the Philippines, Skibo (1992) has shown that areas of

abrasion on the exterior base are due to contact with the hearth or fire dogs during

cooking, that scratches on the lower to midexterior surface are due to abrasion

from washing, and that those on the upper exterior surface are due to carrying.

Similarly, on the interior surface, scratches are variously due to abrasion from

stirring, serving, and washing; and surface spalls, which are associated with the

vaporization of water from the vessel wall, are due to the level of the liquid in

the vessel falling below that of the spalls while heat was still being applied to

the exterior. In the Kalinga context, such spalls are found only on vessels used

for cooking rice, which, in the final simmering stage, absorbs into itself the water

remaining in the vessel. Spalls are only very rarely found on vegetable or meat

cooking vessels, which are normally kept at least half-filled with water.

The nature of the carbon or soot deposit on the exterior of a pottery vessel

also provides evidence of the way in which the vessel was used. Again, on the

basis of ethnoarchaeological studies, Skibo (1992) has shown that cooking over an

open fire results in the formation of several distinct zones of deposited carbon or

soot which reflect the distance from the fire and hence the different temperatures reached over the exterior surface. On the base itself, which was closest to the

fire, the soot is thinnest and has sometimes been burned away entirely to leave an

oxidized patch. Farther from the fire and extending over the lower exterior surface, the soot layer is still thin and is dull black or sometimes gray in appearance. Above

this zone and extending more or less to the rim, the temperature of the exterior

surface remains relatively low due to a combination of increased distance from

the fire and the cooling effect of the liquid in the vessel. As a result resin droplets from the fuel are deposited on the surface to form a thicker layer of glossy black

soot.

In an archaeological context, pottery sherds rather than complete vessels are

all that are normally available for examination. Therefore, although the presence of

abrasion together with a soot deposit can help to establish that a sherd came from a vessel used for cooking, it is generally difficult to explain fully the causes of any observed abrasion and scratches. Instead, in the study of archaeological pottery sherds, it is the analysis of the organic residues, resulting from the food contents of

the original vessel or, in some cases, from sealants applied to its inner surface, that

has received the greatest attention during the past decade (Evershed et al, 1992;

Skibo, 1992; Heron and Evershed, 1993). Such analyses, which are undertaken


on residues either adhering to the inner surface or absorbed into the porous body,

provide information both on the use of the pottery and on the past diet.

The most useful surviving organic compounds are lipids, which are the con

stituents of fats, oils, waxes, and resins. Because of their hydrophobic properties,

lipids survive on pottery and the migration of lipids from the soil in which the

pottery was buried does not normally seem to occur to any significant extent. The

lipids are extracted in a solvent and the individual lipids are separated out, typ

ically by gas chromatography. The mass spectra associated with each lipid can

then be determined by mass spectrometry. Identification of the lipids is based on a combination of the retention time in gas chromatography and the mass spectra.

Alternatively, the pattern of lipids separated out from the archaeological pottery vessel by gas chromatography can be compared with the patterns obtained from

modern examples of the different animal and plant species which the vessel could have contained. However? since the animal and plant products are likely to have

been chemically altered by oxidation, hydrolysis, and microbiological degradation, either during any cooking process or during subsequent burial, an exact match is

only rarely achieved

Instead, one can, for example, use any sterols present to distinguish animal

products (cholesterol) from vegetable products (campesterol or sitosterol). Fatty acids can provide a broad classification into animal fats, dairy products, vegetable oils, or fish oils, but it is not normally possible to identify the actual animal species from the fatty acids alone. However, on the basis of the stable carbon isotopic com

position of the fatty acids extracted from pottery, it has been possible to distinguish between fats from ruminant (i.e., ovine and bovine) and nonruminant (i.e., porcine) animals (Evershed et al, 1997) and between milk and adipose fat from ruminant animals (Dudd and Evershed, 1998). Further, the presence of beeswax provides evidence of possible beekeeping, and plant waxes can sometimes provide a basis for identifying different vegetables. However, the need for caution is emphasized

by the fact that Evershed (Hedges, 1997) has recently been able to show that a

high molecular weight ketone extracted from a wide range of pottery vessels was

the product of catalytic condensation of common fatty acids rather than deriving from a ubiquitous and unusual plant wax. Finally, diterpenoid compounds provide information on the nature, origin, and means of production of plant resins and their

derivatives (wood tar, pitch) used as pottery sealants.

Using this approach, Roman amphorae have been shown to contain olive oil

(Condamin et al, 1976); late Saxon pottery from England has provided evidence of cooking a brassica species, probably cabbage or turnip leaves (Evershed et al,

1991); the use of Corinthian figure vases as containers for oils scented with resins has been confirmed, although it has not been possible to correlate the identified contents with ancient scent recipes (Biers et al, 1994); and Native American

pottery from the Great Basin has provided evidence of the use of scale insect resin, or lac, as an adhesive and as a sealant (Fox et al, 1995). In addition, using a

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combination of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and chemical spot tests, wine and beer have been identified as contents of Early Bronze Age vessels from

Iran (Michel et al, 1993), and the Royal Purple indigoid dye as the deposit on

Canaanite jars from the Levant (McGovern and Michel, 1990). When complete vessels are available or can be reconstructed, organic residue

analysis for the distribution of the bulk quantities of lipids over the interior of dif

ferent types of vessel, from rim to base, can provide valuable information on the

way in which the vessels were used for cooking. Charters et al (1993), studying reconstructed late Saxon vessels from England, have shown that shallow bowls

have accumulated only low concentrations of lipids, suggesting that they were not

used for cooking. In contrast, jars have high concentrations of lipids surviving on

the upper inner surfaces, whereas "top-hat" vessels have lipids distributed fairly

uniformly over the inner surfaces. On the basis of these distributions, it was sug

gested that the jars were used for boiling food, the lipids rising to the surface of

the liquid, and that the "top-hat" vessels were used for roasting meat, the fat from

the meat coating the entire inner surface of the vessel. Confirmation of the former

hypothesis has been provided by a replication experiment in which cabbage was

boiled in a pottery vessel and the accumulation of lipids at the upper surface was

observed (Evershed et al, 1995).

Organic residue analyses are comparatively time-consuming and expensive to

undertake. As a result, such analyses have, to date, been confined to relatively small

groups of pottery, and it seems probable that the method will only occasionally be

employed for use studies of large pottery assemblages. Therefore, it is probably most appropriate for future organic residue analyses to be directed toward the

investigation of the contents of specific vessel types, such as those resulting from

the beginnings of pottery production, as discussed under Technological Innovation

and Choice; those associated with the early use of less basic consumables, such as wine, beer, drugs, and perfumes; and those used as containers in the trade of consumables in general. Finally, it should be emphasized that, in the interpretation of the information on diet provided by residue analysis, it is important to take fully into account supplementary data on diet provided by the examination of the faunal

and floral remains from the archaeological site on which the pottery was found.

Use Inferred from Performance Characteristics

The performance characteristics most readily employed for inferring use are

those based on vessel dimensions and shape. Halley (1986) has used such per formance characteristics to investigate the vessel function of 16th-century AD

Barnett-phase pottery from Georgia (USA). In this study, some 80 whole or partial vessels were supplemented by some 150 rim sherds (from a total of 4500 sherds) from which vessel shape and orifice diameter could be inferred. Thirteen vessel

types were defined and vessel function was inferred from consideration of some

12 performance characteristics. These included vessel capacity, vessel stability,


ease of manipulation of vessel contents (e.g., grinding, stirring), ease of removal

of vessel contents (e.g., pouring or lifting out), avoidance of spilling of vessel con

tents, and efficiency in absorbing and retaining heat and in reducing evaporation. The parameters that were considered in assessing these performance characteris

tics include maximum vessel diameter and height, height of shoulder above base, vessel wall profile, basal diameter, orifice diameter and constriction, rim profile,

position and size of any handles, and center of gravity. In addition, evidence of

any surface wear and sooting resulting from use and data for the frequency of

each vessel type were also taken into account. It was thus hypothesized that four

vessels types were used for cooking, four for final heating and serving, four for a

combination of storage and serving, and one for transporting and holding fire.

Further comparable studies, based primarily on dimensions and shape, in

clude the investigation of assemblages of Neolithic pottery from Windmill Hill,

England (Howard, 1981), and of Late Bronze Age pottery from Mycenae, Greece

(Tournavitou, 1992). In both cases, the categories distinguished included vessels

for cooking, for eating and drinking, for storage and transport, and for ritual. In

these studies, the dimensional and shape data were supplemented by consideration

of the surface decoration and the body fabric. Surface decoration can communicate information about the user of a vessel and, therefore, is generally more

important in

the case of vessels which were used for sociopolitical or ideological/ritual purposes rather than those used for storage or cooking. Also, as discussed under Techno

logical Innovation and Choice, the selection of body fabric can reflect the use to

which a vessel was put. Thus, cooking vessels are normally characterised by the

abundant temper that they contain

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND CHOICE

The discovery or initial invention of pottery can be readily explained in terms

of the fire-hardened clay observed to result from the use of fires many thousands

of years before the appearance of pottery itself. In contrast, the reasons for the

innovation or adoption stage, in which pottery was accepted and ultimately flour

ished as a new material, are more complex and tend to vary according to the part of the world under consideration (Barnett and Hoopes, 1995). However, a basic

factor in each case was the "demand" for pottery, the existence of a well-perceived

requirement for a new material or artifact being the underlying driving force for

most technological innovation (Kingery, 1984). The first extensive use of fired clay appears to have been associated with

the Upper Palaeolithic figurine makers at Dolni Vestonice and related sites in

Czechoslovakia around 26,000 BP (Vandiver et al, 1989). However, the use of

pottery vessels is so far not known to have occurred until after the global changes that accompanied the advent of the Holocene. Although the introduction of pottery

was once thought to have been associated with the beginnings of agriculture, it

is now known that pottery production preceded agriculture in several instances.

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Instead, the basic requirement for the production of pottery is sufficiently long

periods of sedentism, spent close to appropriate clay sources and under suitable

climatic conditions, to allow time for collecting raw materials and for forming,

drying, and firing the vessels. Thus, the earliest pottery in Japan was produced by

sedentary Jomon culture fishermen around 12,000 BP, and pottery was utilized by

semisedentary Mesolithic cultures in northern Europe before the earliest appear ance of domesticates. Conversely, in many parts of the Near East, the beginnings of agriculture preceded pottery production by more than a millennium.

In considering the reasons for the introduction of pottery, one must take into

account the use of pottery both for utilitarian purposes, such as the processing of food and the transport and storage of liquids and solids, and for social and

ideological purposes. Brown (1989) has argued that the adoption of pottery as a

container was "a response to conditions in which the rising demand for watertight, fire-resistant containers is coupled with constraints in meeting this demand." Thus,

pottery was adopted when existing containers, such as animal skins, baskets, or

hollowed-out wood or stone, failed to meet the increasing demand brought about

by new types of food processing, new forms of storage, or the emergence of food

presentation as a form of social expression. In this context, a particular feature of

pottery production is that it becomes more economical, in terms of the time spent

per vessel, as the volume of production increases. In contrast, the alternative

technologies of skins, basketry, wood, and stone are not susceptible to the same

economies of scale until the advent of machinery. Conversely, Hayden (1995,

1998) puts much greater emphasis on sociopolitical factors, arguing that the prin

cipal function of early pottery, with its often elaborate, hand-painted decoration, was as a prestige or elite object which was used to display success and power. And it was only later that pottery, with increasing experience in its production, became sufficiently cheap for it to compete with, or even be less costly than, exist

ing containers and, thus, be used for utilitarian purposes. Similarly, Vitelli (1995) has argued that the earliest Neolithic pottery produced in Greece, which shows no

evidence of contact with fire, had an important ideological/ritual function and that

the first potters may have been female shamans.

As an example of the initial emergence of pottery, the beginnings of pottery

production in the Near East are briefly discussed below. This discussion illustrates both some of the factors that need to be considered and the contribution of the

physical sciences, both actual and potential, in providing information, first, on the

particular production technology employed and its relationship to preexisting tech

nologies and, second, on the use to which the pottery was put. In the latter context, it

should be emphasized that organic residue analyses and the study of surface wear,

although having very considerable potential, have not yet been fully exploited. With the introduction of wheel throwing in the Near East in the fourth mil

lennium BC, the majority of the techniques (i.e., refining and tempering clays, full range of forming methods, slip and painted decoration, kiln firing with con

trolled temperatures and atmospheres) required for the production of unglazed


earthenware was known (Kingery and Vandiver, 1986, p. 8). Subsequently, the

major technological innovations in pottery production were associated with the

production of glazed earthenwares, stonewares, and porcelains, but these are not

relevant to the present paper. Instead, for unglazed earthenwares, the principal concern is the explanation of the different technological choices made in different

regions at different periods In this context, Schiffer and Skibo (1997) have proposed a theoretical frame

work in which variability and change in production technology are explained in

terms of the constraints imposed by the performance characteristics required for

each activity (i.e., procurement of raw materials, manufacture, distribution, use,

disposal) within the complete life history of an artifact. The identification of the

performance characteristics required is achieved by considering how the situational

factors (i.e., environmental, technological, economic, sociopolitical, and cultural

ideological) impinge on the relevant activities. Thus, one attempts to ascertain

which situational factors have actually influenced, either directly or indirectly, the

particular production sequence chosen for an artifact.

Using these concepts, it is possible to prepare a diagram (Fig. I ) which demon

strates, first, the direct constraints that the situational factors impose on the final

technological choices (i.e., clay, temper, forming, surface treatment, firing) in the

production of pottery vessels, as a result of either the performance characteristics

associated with aspects of the production itself (i.e., raw materials, technology,

production mode) or the technological style, as defined below. Second, the dia

gram demonstrates the indirect constraints that the situational factors impose on

technological choice, via the performance characteristics required by the pottery vessels in use and, in turn, the physical properties required to achieve these perfor

mance characteristics. Those performance characteristics required in use, that are

determined by the dimensions and shape of pottery vessels (e.g., capacity, stability, ease of manipulation and removal of contents) and discussed under Consumption, have been omitted from the diagram. This approach to technological choice is in

many ways similar to the design theory approach proposed by Hayden (1998), which again considers the constraints operating in the development of a solution

to a functional need.

Following from this diagram, the wide range of factors that influence the tech

nological choices in the production of pottery vessels is discussed below, in terms

of the constraints imposed, first, directly by environmental, technological, and

economic factors; second, indirectly by the performance characteristics required in use; and third, directly by sociopolitical and cultural-ideological factors.

The Beginnings of Pottery Production in the Near East

In a review of the beginnings of pottery production in the Near East, Moore

(1995) notes that the introduction of pottery took place around 8000 BP, long after

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8 5


the inception of the Neolithic farming way of life. These beginnings, which were

almost-simultaneous throughout the Near East, appear to have coincided with the

change from an economy based on the cultivation of cereals and pulses, combined

with some hunting and gathering, to one based on full-time farming including the

herding of sheep, goats, and cattle.

Hie technological antecedents to pottery production start with the making of

mud bricks for the construction of houses from about 10,000 BP. However, perhaps more important is the extensive use of gypsum and lime plasters from the ninth

millennium BP onward, particularly in the Levant, for the construction of floors for

houses, for making white ware vessels or vaisselle blanche, and in ritual contexts,

notably to form human faces on skulls and to make models of human figures. As

discussed by Kingery et ai (1988), the production of lime plaster involved firing to temperatures up to 80O-900?C and its use involved the addition of mineral or

vegetable fiber tempers and the decoration and burnishing of the surface. Thus, the technology employed in the production and use of lime plaster would have

provided much of the technical knowledge required for the production of pottery. Both coarse-textured and fine-textured pottery was produced from the be

ginning. The coarse-textured pottery were probably used for storage and, in the case of those vessels with iraces of soot on their exterior, for cooking either meat,

vegetables, cereals, or pulses. In addition, some vessels could have been used for

holding, processing, and serving the dairy products becoming available at this time

because of the shift to herding sheep, goats, and cattle. However, in the absence

of organic residue analyses for any of these pottery assemblages, it is not possible to be more specific about what was being processed or cooked. Moore (1995), thus, emphasizes the utilitarian functions of the pottery and argues that these were

the most important reasons for its development. In contrast, Goren et al (1993)

emphasize the dual utilitarian-ideological role of pottery and argue that the dec

orated fine-textured pottery, which was made from a highly calcareous clay, was

produced for ritual use as a replacement for plaster vessels, skulls, and figures.

Constraints Imposed by Environmental? Technological, and Economic Factors

The primary aim in selecting and processing the clay used to make pottery is to obtain a clay with suitable properties, principally plasticity and shrinkage, for forming and firing. However, in ethnoarchaeological studies of procurement distances for clay and temper in traditional societies, Arnold (1985, p. 38) found

that, in 33% of the cases, clay within 1 km was exploited, with 84% of the societies

obtaining their clay within 7 km. Similarly, in the case of temper, in 52% of the

cases the distance traveled was less than 1 km, with 97% of the societies obtaining their temper within 9 km Hence, it seems probable that, in general, there was

considerable flexibility in the choice of raw materials, with the nearest clay source

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being exploited and with this clay then being modified by refining, adding temper, or mixing with a second clay in order to achieve the required properties.

One situation in which clays appear to have been specifically chosen was in

the very extensive use of calcareous clays (i.e., clays containing 15-25% of well

dispersed lime) for the production of fine-textured pottery in both the Near East

and the Mediterranean, in contexts in which noncalcareous clays were being used

for the production of more coarse-textured pottery. Due to the formation of crys talline calcium and calcium-aluminium silicates, the microstructure of calcareous

clays remains essentially unchanged over the temperature range 850-1050?C. As a

result, using such clays, pottery of a consistent quality could be produced with less

precise control over the firing temperature than was required when firing pottery

produced from noncalcareous clays. In addition, it is possible that the resulting buff-colored bodies were preferred, as a background to decorative treatments, to

the red-colored bodies produced when typical iron-rich noncalcareous clays were

fired in an oxidizing atmosphere.

Further, there is some evidence that, in the case of hand forming, the methods

used were, in part, influenced by the properties of the clays available. For example, Vandiver (1988) has argued that the different methods of construction used for Ne

olithic storage vessels from the Near East and from China can be explained in terms

of differences in the plasticity and drying shrinkage of local clays. Thus, the mont

morillonitic clays from the Near East needed to be tempered with vegetable fibers

(e.g., chaff or straw) in order to reduce their plasticity and drying shrinkage. As

a result of the presence of this fibrous temper, coil construction was not possible and sequential slab construction was used instead. In contrast, the sandy illitic

clays from loess deposits in China could be used without the addition of vegetable

temper and therefore coil construction was employed. Although this hypothesis almost certainly represents an oversimplification on the geographical and chrono

logical scale proposed, it does illustrate the possible ways in which the properties of the available clays might influence the choice of forming method.

The way in which pottery production was organized and the extent of craft

specialization also influence the method of forming, as well as other aspects of the

production technology. Thus, coil or slab construction, in which the pottery vessel is

progressively built up over a period of time, is ideally suited to part-time household

production, in that it can be taken up or left off as other demands allow. Such

household production is dominated by women, in part, because pottery making is much more compatible with other household activities than with subsistence

activities, which take place away from the home and are undertaken predominantly

by men (Arnold, 1985, p. 99; Skibo and Schiffer, 1995). In contrast, throwing on a wheel, if it is to achieve the significantly higher

production rate of which it is capable, requires working for substantial continuous

periods of time. Therefore, wheel throwing is normally associated with workshop or factory production, involving the employment of full-time specialists, who are


most frequently men. The introduction of wheel throwing can also result in a

change in the type of temper used. First, coarse angular temper must be avoided, otherwise the potters will suffer severe abrasion to their hands. Second, to take full

advantage of the high production rate that can be achieved with a wheel requires more rapid preparation of the clay. Thus, untempered or sand-tempered clays tends to be favored over clays tempered with, for example, grog or limestone, both of

which require prior crushing. An alternative method of achieving a high production rate is the use of preformed molds into which the soft clay is pressed. This method

of forming pottery has the additional advantage that, once the molds have been

produced, it does not require the highly skilled labor force needed for throwing on

a wheel and, therefore, can be undertaken by men and women as well as children.

The introduction of wheel throwing to a region did not, of course, preclude the continued use of coil or slab construction. Thus, in Britain in the Late Iron

Age, hand-formed pottery continued to be produced in a household setting, the

production of wheel-thrown pottery being associated with the workshop mode

(Morris, 1994). In addition? in Roman Britain, cooking pots continued to be hand

formed (Williams, 1977) since, as discussed below, they needed to be coarse

textured and were therefore difficult to produce by wheel throwing. However, such

pottery was traded over fairly large distances and was, therefore, most probably

produced in a workshop or manufactory. The choice of surface treatment reflects both technological knowledge and

access to the necessary raw materials. Thus, surface burnishing was widely used from the beginnings of pottery production. In contrast, the application of surface

slips and mineral pigments? which required access to suitable clays and minerals,

respectively, together with the ability to recognize and prepare them, were used

somewhat later. Ethnoarchaeological studies (Arnold, 1985, p. 52) indicate that, in traditional societies, considerable effort can be expended in acquiring such

materials, sources that are tens, or even hundreds, of kilometers away often being

exploited. In attempting to explain the choice between open firing with no permanent

structure and firing in a kiln, a number of factors must be considered (Pool, 1997).

First, because of the investment of time in their construction, firing in kilns is fre

quently associated with full-time specialist potters based in workshops. However, the quantity of pottery produced in a kiln firing is not necessarily greater than that

produced in an open firing, nor is the firing temperature achieved in kilns used to

fire earthenware necessarily higher. Also, because of the heat expended in heating the structure, kiln firings tend to be less fuel efficient than open firings. Instead, the

principal advantage of kiln firings is the control possible over the rate of heating, the maximum temperature reached, and the firing atmosphere. The slow heating rate achieved in a kiln firing is essential for the production of most fine-textured

pottery. Similarly, the ability to control the firing atmosphere facilitates the pro duction of pottery with a uniform surface color and is essential for achieving the

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three-stage oxidizing-reducing-oxidizing firing cycle required to produce a re

duced iron oxide black pigment on an oxidized red body (Tite et al, 1982). Other

advantages of kiln firings, over open firings, include the confinement of the flames,

and hence the ability to operate in a more restricted space, and the protection that

the kiln provides from wind and rain.

Constraints Imposed by Performance Characteristics Required in Use

For pottery vessels used for utilitarian purposes, the performance character

istics that have the greatest potential influence on the choice of production tech

nology are the ability of the vessels to retain their contents and to survive impact without cracking; heating effectiveness and the ability to survive rapid changes in

temperature without cracking, in the case of cooking vessels; and cooling effec

tiveness, in the case of water storage vessels. The associated physical properties

(e.g., permeability, strength, toughness, thermal shock resistance) and the pro duction technology choices (e.g., temper type, density, and particle size; surface

treatment; firing procedures) required to achieve these properties have been iden

tified through a combination of theory and data provided by the general ceramics

literature and the experimental testing of replicate pottery in the laboratory. As yet,

systematic measurements of physical properties have been made on only a limited

range of clay types and of clay and temper combinations.

In part, because of probable changes in physical properties as a result of use,

breakage, and burial, direct measurements are only rarely made on ancient pottery itself. However, Neupert (1994) has developed a ball-on-three-ball tester which

can be used to measure the tensile strength in biaxial flexure of irregularly shaped, curved archaeological sherds. Using this system, he has shown that, as a result of

a change from the use of sand to grog temper, the strength of Cibola White Ware

from the American Southwest increases by about 70% over the period from 700

to 1200 AD.

The influence of surface treatment on pottery permeability, and thus on a

range of performance characteristics, has been extensively investigated at the Lab

oratory of Traditional Technology at the University of Arizona. Thus, Schiffer

(1988) has systematically studied the variation in evaporative cooling effective

ness of water storage jars with different interior and exterior surface treatments,

ranging from finger smoothing, which allows the greatest permeability, through

burnishing, to slipping plus burnishing, which produces the lowest permeability. The results showed that, under the relatively low stress conditions associated with

environmental temperatures of about 25?C, the supply of water to the exterior sur

face was fast enough to maintain the film of water needed for evaporative cooling, with all surface treatments. Only at higher environmental temperatures was the

greater permeability resulting from finger smoothing necessary.


Similarly, Schiffer (1990) has studied the heating effectiveness of cooking

pots with different surface treatments by measuring the time required to heat water

in test vessels to 90?C together with the resulting water loss. The results confirmed

that the most effective way to minimize water loss and, thus, energy use was to

make the interior surface impermeable by the application of a resin. In this way, water was prevented from permeating to the exterior surface where energy would

have been used in boiling it off. The more permeable is the interior surface, the

more rapid is the supply of water to the exterior surface. Therefore, the energy used

in boiling off this water increases with increasing permeability such that, with a

finger-smoothed interior surface, it is often impossible to bring the contents of a

vessel to the boil.

A further topic which has been the subject of extensive experimental testing is the role of temper type, density, and particle size in determining the strength,

toughness, and thermal shock resistance of pottery and, hence, the ability of the pot

tery to retain its contents and to survive impact and rapid changes in temperature.

Kilikoglou etal (1995, 1998) undertook transverse rupture strength and fracture

toughness measurements using, respectively, three-point bending on unnotched

test bars and four-point bending on notched test bars. These test bars, which were

fired to 950?C, were made from a calcareous clay tempered with varying amounts

(0-40%, by volume) and varying particles sizes (100-750 /xm in diameter) of

quartz sand. As anticipated from theoretical considerations, the transverse rupture

strength was observed to decrease progressively with increasing quartz content

and, for a given quartz content, also to decrease with increasing size of the quartz

particles. Conversely, the fracture toughness increased significantly when the vol

ume fraction of quartz temper was increased from 10 to 20% but was more or less

independent of quartz particle size. The explanation proposed was that the differ

ential shrinkage/expansion of the clay and quartz inclusions during drying, firing, and subsequent cooling resulted in the formation of a network of microcracks, as

well as in debonding between the quartz grains and the clay matrix. As a result of

the formation of microcracks, the probability of crack initiation increases, result

ing in the observed decrease in transverse rupture strength with increasing volume

fraction of quartz temper. However, this microcrack network also encourages crack

deflection and bifurcation? thus increasing the dissipation of energy during frac

ture. Hence, the probability of crack propagation is decreased, resulting in the

observed increase in toughness with increasing volume fraction of quartz temper. Feathers ( 1989) and West ( 1992) have further shown that the increase in tough

ness resulting from the addition of temper depends critically on the morphology of the temper inclusions. Thus, platy or fibrous temper, such as mica and shell, re

sults in a significantly greater increase in toughness than either angular or rounded

temper such as limestone, quartz, and grog. This increase in toughness is due to

the increased dissipation of energy resulting from a combination of the increased

distance that a crack has to travel in order to pass around platy or fibrous inclusions,

220 Tite

the increased friction that must be overcome in pulling such inclusions out from

the clay matrix, and the ability of such inclusions to bridge propagating cracks.

The resistance to crack propagation following thermal shock exhibits essen

tially the same dependence on and variation with temper type, density, and size

as that observed for toughness. However, in assessing thermal shock resistance, it

is also necessary to consider the driving forces, of which the stresses associated

with the differential expansion or contraction of the inner and outer surfaces of a

pottery vessel, due to a rapid change in temperature at one surface and the resultant

temperature gradients through the wall, are of primary importance. The magnitude of these stresses depends on a combination of the bulk thermal expansion coeffi

cient of the pottery body, the thickness of the vessel wall, its thermal conductivity, and the vessel shape. A possible secondary driving force is the stresses that occur

during heating when the thermal expansion of temper particles are greater than

that of the clay matrix. However, the associated stresses are probably less severe

than sometimes suggested because the greater shrinkage of the temper particles

during cooling after firing, compared to the clay matrix, will have created spaces around the particles into which they can expand, at least partially, during subse

quent heating. In contrast to the situation for pottery vessels used for utilitarian purposes,

the more important performance characteristics for those used for sociopolitical or ideological/ritual purposes (e.g., prestige pottery presented as a gift or used for

competitive feasting) are generally visual and tactile. Such performance character

istics determine, for example, the choice of surface color and decoration, surface

texture, hardness, and vessel profile or shape, and these parameters, in turn, can

determine the technological choice. Thus, the surface color requirement can de

termine the type of body clay, surface slips, and mineral pigments used together with the firing atmosphere. A requirement for a highly polished surface can be met

either by burnishing or, as in the case of Greek Attic and Roman Samian wares

(Tite et al, 1982), by applying a specially selected slip. Similarly, the hardness

requirement can again determine the type of body clay used together with the

firing temperature and atmosphere, and the required vessel shape can determine

the forming method employed. A further factor influencing technological choice

in the production of pottery for nonutilitarian purposes is the requirement for it

to have a high value, which, in turn, favors the use of raw materials from distant

sources and/or high labor costs in production. In considering the relationship between technological choice and performance

characteristics, it is important to remember that several technological choices are

usually available for solving a specific performance problem. Conversely, a single

technological choice, such as quantity or type of temper, can affect the perfor mance characteristics associated with several aspects of both production and use.

Similarly, when a new technological choice is necessary, for example, as a result

of a change in the way in which a vessel is used, this can affect many performance


characteristics and possibly set in motion a series of changes in production technol

ogy. Therefore, a particular technological choice usually represents a compromise in which preference is given to those performance characteristics, associated with

either production or use, that are regarded as most important. For example, Skibo et al (1989) have argued that, in using organics as tem

per, the potters of the Late Archaic period in the eastern United States sacrificed

good abrasion resistance and good heating effectiveness for a vessel that could be

transported easily. Also, besides the benefits during use, organic temper improved the workability and wet strength of the clay during vessel manufacture. The results

obtained from the study of cooking vessels, which are presented below, provide a further illustration of the range of technological choices available for solving a

specific performance problem, together with the compromises that are often nec

essary. For cooking vessels that are heated directly, rather than indirectly by means

of heated stones, the two most important performance characteristics that need to

be considered are heating effectiveness and thermal shock resistance.

The Design of Cooking Vessels. The seminal paper by Braun (1983), entitled "Pots as Tools," represents one of the earliest attempts to explain the observed

changes in technological choice in the production of cooking vessels in terms of a need for different performance characteristics. He showed that, in Illinois and

Missouri during the Woodland period, there were a reduction in the wall thickness

of the pottery and a decrease in the density and average size of the quartz sand and

crushed rock temper around 400-500 AD. He argued that these changes reflected the increasingly stressful thermal conditions to which pottery was subjected as

a result of the longer cooking time associated with the increasing importance of

starchy seed foods. Thus, the observed reduction in wall thickness resulted in more

rapid conduction of heat from the exterior to the interior and, hence, in an improved

heating effectiveness. At the same time, the temperature gradients through the

vessel wall were reduced, and therefore, there was less energy available for fracture

during thermal shock. On the debit side, the reduction in wall thickness resulted in a decrease in strength. However, this was compensated for by the decrease in the

density and average size of temper, which resulted in an increased resistance to

crack initiation and, hence, an increase in strength. The decrease in the amount of

temper could have resulted in an increased probability of crack propagation and,

therefore, a decrease in thermal shock resistance. However, as shown by Kilikoglou et al (1998), provided that the amount of temper does not fall below about 20%

(by volume), the fracture toughness remains essentially constant with decreasing temper content. In addition, the reduction in the amount of high-thermal expansion

quartz-rich temper also resulted in a decrease in the bulk thermal expansion and,

thus, a decrease in the energy available for fracture during thermal shock.

Subsequently, Steponaitis (1984) showed that, in the region around Mounds

ville, Alabama, during the period from 1000 BC to 1500 AD, the temper type used in cooking vessels changed sequentially from fiber to coarse quartz sand, then to

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fine quartz sand, to grog, and, finally, to coarse shell during the Mississipian pe riod. He therefore argued that coarsely ground shell provides the most appropriate

temper for cooking vessels and that the use of shell temper can be seen as the

final stage in a technological development aimed at achieving the "ideal" cooking vessel. The first advantage of shell temper was that, as discussed above, the platy shell particles were more effective at stopping crack propagation than rounded or

even angular quartz sand or grog particles and, thus, resulted in a higher thermal

shock resistance. The second advantage was that, because the thermal expansion of

shell temper was significantly lower than that of quartz, the bulk thermal expansion with a shell-tempered body was lower than that of a quartz-tempered body, and

therefore, the stresses resulting from thermal shock were less. Finally, any stresses

that occurred during heating, as a result of the differential thermal expansion of

the quartz temper and the clay matrix, were absent in the case of shell temper. A potential disadvantage of shell temper is the care required to avoid overfiring (Feathers, 1989). If shell-tempered pottery is fired much above 700?C, the shell

will start to decompose to lime, which rapidly hydrates on cooling. The hydration is accompanied by expansion, which causes the pottery to spall and crack.

Contrary to the above studies, Woods (1986) has questioned the emphasis

put on the thermal shock resistance of cooking vessels and, in particular, on the

importance of shell temper. She showed that, in Britain from the Neolithic through to the medieval period, there is little evidence for the deliberate use of a specific

temper type in cooking vessels and that quartz sand was probably more commonly used than shell temper. She, therefore, argued that the crucial characteristic of

cooking vessels was that they were coarse textured and that, if they survived the

rapid heating and cooling associated with the open firing during their production,

they would survive use for cooking. However, the latter argument takes no account

of the cumulative effect of the repeated heating and cooling resulting from use

in cooking. Thus, conversely, Richard Carlton (personal communication, 1998), in an ethnoarchaeological study of pottery production in the West Balkans, has

observed that cooking vessels tempered with limestone survive in use without

obvious deterioration for longer periods than those tempered with quartz sand,

although both types survived the rapid heating and cooling during their production

firing. Therefore, although thermal shock resistance was clearly one factor influenc

ing the type of temper chosen for cooking vessels, it is important to remember that

there were other factors of equal or, perhaps, greater importance that need to be

taken into account when attempting to explain the choice of temper type. These

other factors include the accessibility of the different temper types and the effect of temper on both the working properties of the clay and on other performance characteristics of the pottery in use. In addition, as discussed below, it is also

crucial to consider the sociopolitical and cultural-ideological factors influencing

technological choice.


Constraints Imposed by Sociopolitical and Cultural-Ideological Factors

In considering the role of sociopolitical and cultural-ideological factors in

influencing technological choice, Lechtman (1977) introduced the concept of tech

nological style. Central to this concept is the idea that "style" resides in every stage of a production process. As a result, a technological style reflects the conscious and

unconscious elements of the sum of the technological choices involved in a pro duction process. Lechtman (1977) then goes on to argue that social and ideological factors act as filters and select from the multitude of possible production routes

that which is most consistent with prevailing beliefs. Lemonnier (1986), who has

also contributed to the development of this concept, similarly relates technological

style to a society's worldview.

Much of the pioneering work on technological style was concerned with met

als, the classic example being the study of the relationship between pre-Hispanic Andean metallurgy and weaving. In this case, Lechtman (1977) has argued that an

inherent similarity existed between the techniques used in metallurgy and weaving in that, for both, the "essential ingredient" was incorporated into the artifact rather

than being applied merely to the surface. As a result, a gold or silver surface layer was achieved, not by applying a layer of the desired precious metal to the surface, but by incorporating these metals into the copper alloy of the body and then re

moving the copper from the surface layer. Similarly, motifs were not embroidered

superficially onto Andean textiles but were woven within the fabric itself. Further, in China, as discussed by Franklin (1983), there was an intimate relationship be

tween bronze and ceramic technologies. Thus, from the beginnings of metallurgy in the Shang dynasty, Chinese bronzes were cast in ceramic piece molds rather

than being hammered or wrought, as in the case of early metal production in other

parts of the world. At the same period, the technique of molding was also used to

form some ceramic vessels ( Vainker, 1991, p. 27). In addition, some Shang dynasty bronzes and ceramics were similar in terms of both shape and the use of deeply incised decoration. On the basis of these links, Franklin (1982) has suggested that, in China, bronze was regarded and treated as a "fluid ceramic."

In considering the role of technological style in pottery production, the choice

of forming method is of particular importance. Thus, Vandiver and Chia (1997) have suggested that, throughout Southeast Asia, a transformational forming tech

nology was employed, involving the expansion of a clay lump using primarily the

paddle-and-anvil method This method is akin to shaping by throwing on a wheel

and contrasts with the constructivist technology, involving building up the vessel

from slabs or coils, which was employed to the west and east respectively. Similarly, van der Leeuw (1993), on the basis of a detailed assessment of the forming meth

ods employed in three ethnographic and two archaeological contexts, distinguished between invariant and variant elements within a forming tradition. He then went

on to argue that the invariant elements are associated with the conceptualization

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of shape through a combination of the topology of the vessel during forming, the

basic entities out of which the vessel is formed (i.e., partonomy), and the sequence in which the vessel is formed and that it is these invariant elements which define

the technological style associated with the forming tradition. Conversely, the vari

ant elements within a forming tradition, which are more open to modification than

those associated with the conceptualization of shape, are associated with executive

functions such as the methods of rotation and support used.

Again, Gosselain and Livingstone (1995), through ethnoarchaeological stud ies in sub-Saharan Africa, have established close links between ethnolinguistic groupings and the ways in which artisans form their pottery. In contrast, the

choices made in most other stages in the manufacturing process (e.g., clay pro

cessing, firing) appear to be more randomly distributed. Gosselain (1998) then

argued that observed links between linguistic groups and manufacturing meth

ods are the result of potters learning their skills within the nuclear or extended

family and that forming methods, because they rely essentially on motor habits, are more resistant to subsequent change than other aspects of the manufacturing process.

The above examples indicate the potential of technological style in pottery

production for helping, in combination with the style based on pottery form and

decoration, to define social boundaries. Similarly, the identification of changes in

technological style can provide additional evidence for the migration of peoples. For example, from the study of the utilitarian plain ware pottery found in the Tonto

Valley in Arizona during the Colonial period (700-800 AD), Stark et al. (1998) have argued that the methods of forming and surface treatment together with the use

of micaceous schist temper, which was not available locally, provide confirmatory evidence for the migration of Hokokam-affiliated groups. The distances involved are such that an explanation in terms of migration of people, rather than exchange or trade of the pottery, is favored since plain ware pottery will most probably circulate in utilitarian exchange spheres within which the travel time from one

point to the next rarely exceeds 1 day's journey. Similarly, Rigby and Freestone

(1997) have shown that the first wheel-thrown pottery to be produced in Late Iron

Age Britain was typologically and, in many respects, technologically identical to

contemporary pottery being produced in northern France. However, in this case, the British pottery was made from a local fabric tempered by the addition of grog and vegetal matter. They therefore suggest that the first of these new wheel-thrown

wares were produced by immigrant or itinerant potters from Gaul, working in

Britain and using local clays. More generally, in addition to helping to establish the validity of the concept

of technological style, ethnoarchaeological studies are valuable in providing ex

amples of choices in raw material selection and vessel production which depend on

rites, myths, and taboos rather than on environmental, technological, or economic

constraints or on the performance characteristics required in use. For example, in

many parts of Africa, the production of pottery is seen as being related to birth


(Barley, 1994, 1997). Thus, the potter is also often the midwife and her husband

is the blacksmith, a role similarly involving transformation of material, and also

the undertaker. The addition of grog temper to a clay is seen as an act of "rebirth"

in which a "reversal of time" is achieved. Similarly, pottery production is seen as

being related to the transformation of "wet and smelly" boys to dry, circumcised men. Pottery production is exclusively a dry-season activity and is permitted only after the public inauguration ofthat season by the rain-chief, who fires grass on the

top of his mountain. On the same day, the boys also return from the bush and their

heads are "fired" by piling branches over them and setting them alight. In addition,

ethnoarchaeological studies can provide insight into the emic dimension, that is, what the potters thought that they were achieving through their choice of a partic ular production sequence and what the people using the pottery thought were the

properties that it had. For example, Aronson etal. (1994) interviewed potters and

pottery users from the Kalinga area in the Philippines and compared the reasons

given for choosing certain clays or purchasing certain pots with laboratory data on

the physical properties of the clays and pots. They showed that, in this case, the

laboratory data confirmed both the potters* judgments of the clay properties (e.g.,

good working properties) and the purchasers' judgments of the properties of the

pottery (e.g., strong and durable, lightweight). Overall, therefore, ethnoarchaeological parallels play a valuable role in help

ing us to understand the influence of sociopolitical and cultural-ideological factors on technological choice. However, in using such parallels, it is crucial to ensure

comparability, as far as is possible, between the archaeological and the ethnoar

chaeological contexts in terms of the form of the pottery (i.e., dimensions, shape, surface decoration), its distribution in space, its abundance, and its relationship to

other artifacts.

In summary, sociopolitical and cultural-ideological factors are clearly of very considerable importance in explaining technological choice. However, even if one

accepts the general validity of the statement by van der Leeuw (1993) that "the

non-availability of the appropriate raw material(s) turns out to be only very rarely the limiting constraint in the manufacture of pottery," the constraints imposed by environmental, technological, and economic factors and by performance charac

teristics in use cannot be entirely ignored, as Gosselain (1998) appears to have

suggested. First, an understanding of the role of these more practical constraints

provides a valuable baseline for the consideration of the overall reasons for techno

logical choice. For example, the knowledge of whether or not the optimum physical

properties required by a cooking vessel have been achieved is clearly helpful when

trying to establish whether sociopolitical or cultural-ideological factors took prece dence over performance characteristics in use in influencing technological choice.

Second, it must be remembered that the importance of such practical constraints

will tend to increase, relative to sociopolitical and cultural-ideological factors, as the extent of specialization and the scale of pottery production increases from

household production to workshop and factory production.

226 Tite

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

A primary requirement for the future must be to ensure that an increasing

proportion of ceramic studies, making use of the physical sciences, is designed to answer real archaeological questions that go beyond the mere reconstruction

or description of the production technology, distribution, and consumption. Such

archaeological questions can be problem specific or can require a more holis

tic approach, in which the complete life cycle, from selection, procurement, and

processing of the raw materials through the ultimate discard of the pottery, is in

vestigated. In either case, in interpreting the physical science data, consideration

should be given to the overall environmental, technological, economic, sociopoliti cal, cultural-ideological, and historical context in which the pottery was produced.

In addition to the physical examination, both problem-specific and holis

tic projects will also variously involve archaeological fieldwork and excavation,

experimental archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, and archaeological theory and inter

pretation. Therefore, interdisciplinary collaboration is essential to success, with

the entire group of participants being actively involved at every stage, from the

formulation of the archaeological question and the research design, through the

fieldwork, excavation, and selection of the samples, to the physical examination,

interpretation of the resulting data, and final publication. A further crucial compo nent of any ceramics study is that the samples selected for detailed study are fully

representative of the complete ceramic assemblage under investigation. It is there

fore important to make full use of low technology methods, such as low-power binocular microscopy, which enable one to undertake a preliminary examination

of as high a proportion of the entire assemblage as is realistic.

Regarding the requirements for new techniques of physical examination, it

should first be emphasized that an impressive range of techniques is already avail

able and is being utilized in ceramic studies. Therefore, as important as the devel

opment of new techniques is the maintenance of quality control over the precision and accuracy of the analytical data generated by existing techniques. In achieving this quality control, the provision of a series of standard samples and the organi zation of laboratory intercomparisons have an important role to play. However, in

the future, one can certainly foresee new developments in organic residue analysis, with more emphasis on the measurement of isotopic compositions in combination with gas chromatography. Furthermore, because of the decreasing access to nuclear

reactors, at least in Europe, it seems probable that an alternative to INAA for chemi

cal element analysis will have to be found in the fairly near-future. One possibility which is currently being systematically investigated is ICP-MS. In considering new techniques in general, because of the large size of most pottery assemblages being studied, a high throughput of samples is an important factor in determining choice. However, in order to avoid repetition of the problems encountered with

the weak-acid extraction method (Neff et al, 1996; Triadan et al, 1997), it is

crucial that the validity of the data provided by the use of simplified and, therefore,


more rapid procedures is fully tested before their widescale application. Further, in the context of new methods involving a high level of capital investment, it is

important also to ensure that the data that they provide have real archaeological rel

evance and that they are not merely expensive new "toys" looking for a problem to

solve!

Finally, there is clearly scope for more research into some of the basic science on which the interpretation of the results from the physical examination of pottery is based. Of general importance in this context is the investigation of the changes in chemical composition and microstructure that occur as a result of both the use of

the ceramics and their weathering during burial, since such alterations can effect the

data on which the reconstruction of their production, distribution, and consumption are based. Similarly, further research is required into the chemical alteration of

animal and plant residues in pottery, occurring both as a result of cooking and

during subsequent burial Other topics on which a better understanding of the

underlying basic science would be of value include the full range of parameters that

determine the physical properties (e.g., permeability, strength, toughness, thermal

shock resistance) of pottery

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This paper was written, in large part, during a sabbatical spent at the Depart ment of Anthropology, University of Arizona, and at the Conservation Analytical

Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution. I thank those two institutions for the excellent

hospitality that they provided and, in particular, Professor Michael Schiffer, Pro

fessor David Kingery, Dr. Bert van Zelst, Dr. Ron Bishop, and Dr. Pam Vandiver

for extremely helpful discussions. I am also very grateful to the various review

ers, who provided both valuable comments and criticisms and a most stimulating further reading list.

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